Best High Schools in North Carolina
The top 50 high schools (grades 9-12) in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment from NCES data with EDFacts proficiency rates where available. Average proficiency across this list is 64%.
| # | School | City | Enrollment | Proficiency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Myers Park High School | Charlotte, NC | 3,593 | 62% |
| 2 | Ardrey Kell High School | Charlotte, NC | 3,529 | 58% |
| 3 | South Mecklenburg High School | Charlotte, NC | 3,344 | 64% |
| 4 | NC Virtual Academy | Durham, NC | 3,047 | 57% |
| 5 | Apex Friendship High | Apex, NC | 2,772 | 69% |
| 6 | Leesville Road High | Raleigh, NC | 2,613 | 59% |
| 7 | William Amos Hough High | Cornelius, NC | 2,518 | 66% |
| 8 | Enloe High | Raleigh, NC | 2,502 | 53% |
| 9 | Apex High | Apex, NC | 2,500 | 69% |
| 10 | Panther Creek High | Cary, NC | 2,435 | 59% |
| 11 | North Carolina Cyber Academy | Durham, NC | 2,372 | 53% |
| 12 | Lincoln Charter School | Denver, NC | 2,263 | 54% |
| 13 | Lake Norman Charter | Huntersville, NC | 2,215 | 47% |
| 14 | Ronald W Reagan High School | Pfafftown, NC | 2,146 | 65% |
| 15 | Cary High | Cary, NC | 2,145 | 63% |
| 16 | Needham Broughton High | Raleigh, NC | 2,128 | 64% |
| 17 | Marvin Ridge High | Waxhaw, NC | 2,074 | 68% |
| 18 | Wakefield High | Raleigh, NC | 2,072 | 63% |
| 19 | Green Level High | Cary, NC | 2,052 | 76% |
| 20 | Providence High School | Charlotte, NC | 2,048 | 64% |
| 21 | Green Hope High | Cary, NC | 2,001 | 74% |
| 22 | Northwest Guilford High | Greensboro, NC | 1,991 | 68% |
| 23 | Lake Norman High | Mooresville, NC | 1,986 | 65% |
| 24 | Fuquay-Varina High | Fuquay-Varina, NC | 1,940 | 62% |
| 25 | Weddington High | Matthews, NC | 1,836 | 72% |
| 26 | Heritage High | Wake Forest, NC | 1,811 | 67% |
| 27 | Topsail High | Hampstead, NC | 1,777 | 62% |
| 28 | Cox Mill High School | Concord, NC | 1,762 | 67% |
| 29 | Olympic High School | Charlotte, NC | 1,729 | 63% |
| 30 | Hickory Ridge High | Harrisburg, NC | 1,720 | 71% |
| 31 | South Iredell High | Statesville, NC | 1,711 | 65% |
| 32 | D H Conley High | Greenville, NC | 1,703 | 63% |
| 33 | Mountain Island Charter School | Mt. Holly, NC | 1,703 | 71% |
| 34 | Middle Creek High | Apex, NC | 1,659 | 67% |
| 35 | Chapel Hill High | Chapel Hill, NC | 1,597 | 69% |
| 36 | Willow Spring High | Fuquay Varina, NC | 1,477 | 62% |
| 37 | East Chapel Hill High | Chapel Hill, NC | 1,447 | 66% |
| 38 | Union Pines High | Cameron, NC | 1,438 | 62% |
| 39 | Watauga High | Boone, NC | 1,272 | 65% |
| 40 | Reynolds High | Asheville, NC | 1,133 | 63% |
| 41 | North Lincoln High | Lincolnton, NC | 1,079 | 64% |
| 42 | East Lincoln High | Denver, NC | 1,047 | 67% |
| 43 | Western Alamance High | Elon, NC | 1,036 | 63% |
| 44 | Charlotte Lab School | Charlotte, NC | 991 | 65% |
| 45 | Oak Grove High | Winston-Salem, NC | 958 | 62% |
| 46 | TMSA Charlotte | Charlotte, NC | 790 | 62% |
| 47 | Northeast Academy of Aerospace & AdvTech | Elizabeth City, NC | 756 | 64% |
| 48 | Seaforth High | Pittsboro, NC | 732 | 68% |
| 49 | Chatham Charter | Siler City, NC | 574 | 65% |
| 50 | Ignite Online Academy | Durham, NC | 467 | 73% |
Explore More North Carolina School Data
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best high school in North Carolina?
The largest high school in North Carolina is Myers Park High School in Charlotte with 3,593 students and a 62% proficiency rate. Rankings are based on NCES Common Core of Data enrollment and EDFacts proficiency results.
How many high schools are in North Carolina?
This page shows the top 50 high schools (grades 9-12) in North Carolina 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.
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.