Best High Schools in Illinois

The top 50 high schools (grades 9-12) in Illinois, ranked by enrollment from NCES data with EDFacts proficiency rates where available. Average proficiency across this list is 56%.

#	School	City	Enrollment	Proficiency
1	Lane Technical High School	Chicago, IL	4,496	63%
2	Adlai E Stevenson High School	Lincolnshire, IL	4,489	49%
3	Taft High School	Chicago, IL	4,464	54%
4	Waukegan High School	Waukegan, IL	4,355	47%
5	East High School	Aurora, IL	4,197	50%
6	Lockport Township High Sch East	Lockport, IL	3,872	40%
7	Lyons Twp High Sch	La Grange, IL	3,842	58%
8	West Aurora High School	Aurora, IL	3,818	50%
9	Warren Township High School	Gurnee, IL	3,758	60%
10	Evanston Twp High School	Evanston, IL	3,691	57%
11	Joliet West High School	Joliet, IL	3,541	39%
12	J Sterling Morton West High Sch	Berwyn, IL	3,533	31%
13	J Sterling Morton East High Sch	Cicero, IL	3,445	29%
14	Bolingbrook High School	Bolingbrook, IL	3,405	47%
15	Joliet Central High School	Joliet, IL	3,377	33%
16	Oak Park & River Forest High Sch	Oak Park, IL	3,304	62%
17	Curie Metropolitan High School	Chicago, IL	3,178	43%
18	Neuqua Valley High School	Naperville, IL	3,156	62%
19	Glenbrook South High School	Glenview, IL	3,030	42%
20	Minooka Community High School	Minooka, IL	2,930	54%
21	Huntley High School	Huntley, IL	2,926	66%
22	Oswego High School	Oswego, IL	2,901	50%
23	Carl Sandburg High School	Orland Park, IL	2,894	51%
24	New Trier Township H S Winnetka	Winnetka, IL	2,856	60%
25	South Elgin High School	South Elgin, IL	2,844	61%
26	Oswego East High School	Oswego, IL	2,836	70%
27	Barrington High School	Barrington, IL	2,802	43%
28	Homewood-Flossmoor High School	Flossmoor, IL	2,798	43%
29	Waubonsie Valley High School	Aurora, IL	2,766	52%
30	Elgin High School	Elgin, IL	2,750	51%
31	Metea Valley High School	Aurora, IL	2,715	69%
32	York Comm High School	Elmhurst, IL	2,707	72%
33	Naperville Central High School	Naperville, IL	2,551	64%
34	O Fallon High School	O Fallon, IL	2,521	66%
35	Plainfield South High School	Plainfield, IL	2,411	62%
36	Schaumburg High School	Schaumburg, IL	2,340	64%
37	Young Magnet High School	Chicago, IL	2,148	46%
38	Harry D Jacobs High School	Algonquin, IL	2,080	63%
39	Plainfield East High School	Plainfield, IL	1,961	64%
40	Jones College Prep High School	Chicago, IL	1,941	64%
41	Wheaton North High School	Wheaton, IL	1,871	67%
42	Proviso West High School	Hillside, IL	1,868	68%
43	Proviso East High School	Maywood, IL	1,658	66%
44	Central High School	Burlington, IL	1,387	65%
45	Dunlap High School	Dunlap, IL	1,375	64%
46	Lemont Twp High School	Lemont, IL	1,324	73%
47	Payton College Preparatory HS	Chicago, IL	1,233	66%
48	Mascoutah High School	Mascoutah, IL	1,227	69%
49	Prairie Ridge High School	Crystal Lake, IL	1,140	62%
50	Northside College Preparatory Hs	Chicago, IL	1,040	66%

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best high school in Illinois?

The largest high school in Illinois is Lane Technical High School in Chicago with 4,496 students and a 63% proficiency rate. Rankings are based on NCES Common Core of Data enrollment and EDFacts proficiency results.

How many high schools are in Illinois?

This page shows the top 50 high schools (grades 9-12) in Illinois by enrollment. Browse the full state directory to see all schools.

What does the proficiency rate measure?

Proficiency rate is the percentage of students meeting grade-level standards on combined math and reading assessments, as reported by EDFacts. Data is district-level and applied to each school in the district.

Where does this data come from?

Enrollment and school characteristics come from the NCES Common Core of Data. Proficiency rates come from EDFacts assessment results. Both are official federal datasets published by the U.S. Department of Education.

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.

Sources: NCES Common Core of Data, EDFacts

Last updated: June 2026

Schools are ranked by enrollment within the state. Proficiency rates come from EDFacts assessment results, district-level figures applied to each school in the district.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, 2026.