Best School Districts in California 2026
Poway Unified ranks #1 for proficiency in California at 64%. Below: the top 23 California public school districts ranked by EDFacts math + reading proficiency.
Filtered to districts with 2+ schools and 200+ students. Data from NCES Common Core of Data + EDFacts assessment results.
| Rank | District | Schools | Students | Proficiency | Grad Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poway Unified | 39 | 34,663 | 64% | 82% |
| 2 | Irvine Unified | 45 | 36,462 | 63% | 85% |
| 3 | Fremont Unified | 43 | 33,057 | 61% | 83% |
| 4 | Capistrano Unified | 59 | 41,749 | 55% | 80% |
| 5 | Elk Grove Unified | 67 | 61,886 | 52% | 77% |
| 6 | Long Beach Unified | 82 | 65,129 | 49% | 79% |
| 7 | Clovis Unified | 49 | 42,771 | 49% | 75% |
| 8 | San Francisco Unified | 106 | 48,722 | 49% | 77% |
| 9 | San Juan Unified | 66 | 37,776 | 48% | 77% |
| 10 | San Diego Unified | 175 | 93,694 | 46% | 75% |
| 11 | Sweetwater Union High | 28 | 35,372 | 46% | 74% |
| 12 | Corona-Norco Unified | 52 | 50,682 | 42% | 72% |
| 13 | Sacramento City Unified | 73 | 38,588 | 41% | 75% |
| 14 | Riverside Unified | 48 | 39,380 | 40% | 71% |
| 15 | Stockton Unified | 54 | 35,374 | 40% | 74% |
| 16 | Santa Ana Unified | 51 | 39,899 | 39% | 72% |
| 17 | Fontana Unified | 44 | 33,844 | 39% | 72% |
| 18 | Kern High | 25 | 42,667 | 39% | 71% |
| 19 | Oakland Unified | 80 | 34,043 | 38% | 71% |
| 20 | Garden Grove Unified | 64 | 38,157 | 38% | 71% |
| 21 | Los Angeles Unified | 784 | 426,268 | 37% | 69% |
| 22 | Fresno Unified | 100 | 69,424 | 35% | 71% |
| 23 | San Bernardino City Unified | 73 | 45,852 | 34% | 70% |
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on EDFacts proficiency rates (math + reading combined), Poway Unified ranks #1 in California at 64% proficiency. The full top 25 above shows the highest-scoring districts in the state.
Poway Unified (Poway) currently leads California for proficiency. Strong districts in California typically cluster in suburban areas adjacent to major metros — proximity to economic centers correlates with funded districts and high-engagement parent populations.
These are the best school **districts** by EDFacts proficiency. Individual schools within these districts may vary — a strong district usually has strong schools, but not always. For school-level rankings (elementary, middle, high), see our per-level ranking pages.
EDFacts proficiency rates can be compared state to state, but methodology varies (each state sets its own proficiency cut-score). For an apples-to-apples comparison across states, use the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) — the "Nation's Report Card" — which administers the same test nationwide.
By average EDFacts proficiency rate (math + reading combined). We filter to districts with at least 2 schools and 200+ students enrolled, to exclude tiny single-school districts. Other ranking sites blend in teacher pay, parent reviews, demographics, and college outcomes — useful but more subjective. We use only federal data and rank by academic outcomes.
All data is sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (enrollment, school count) and EDFacts assessment results (proficiency rates). Both are federal data sources used by the US Department of Education. Rankings reflect the most recent reporting year available.
Districts ranked by average EDFacts proficiency (math + reading). Filtered to 2+ schools and 200+ students.
The this entity category groups every U.S. K-12 school outcomes and enrollment entity sharing this attribute. The list above is the data; the paragraphs below explain what the grouping means against the broader NCES Common Core of Data and EDFacts distribution and how to read the relative rankings within the category.
For readers using this category as a starting point, the per-entity detail pages linked from the table above carry the underlying NCES Common Core of Data and EDFacts data in full. The category-level view is the filter; the per-entity pages are the actual answer.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, 2026.