Best High Schools in Detroit, MI (2025-26)
Every ranked high school in Detroit, MI, ordered by SchoolGrade. A grade rewards actual test performance against the projection for each school's student context, so a B in a high-poverty school can outrank an A- elsewhere on impact. Click a column heading to sort, or filter by school, city or district.
Detroit, MI rankings: High Schools · Elementary Schools
Detroit, MI high schools ranked
How Detroit, MI's high schools compare
C: 2D: 17F: 17
0% of the 36 ranked high schools in Detroit, MI earn an A or B (0 A grades, 0 B, 2 C, 17 D, 17 F), against 48% of high schools nationwide. 23 schools meet or beat the proficiency projected from their student context (64% here, 75% nationally), and 5 exceed it. On average 13% of tested students meet the state bar against a projected 16% (national averages: 42% actual, 40% projected).
Districts with the most schools in the top quarter (the top 10): Detroit Public Schools Community District (10).
The largest ranked high schools: Cass Technical High School (2,395 students, C+, #1), Western International High School (2,151 students, D-, #16), Renaissance High School (1,146 students, C, #2).
Of the top 25, 3 are magnet schools and 8 are charters. Selective and specialised schools tend to post high actual scores; the projection column is the fairer comparison for a neighborhood school.
High schools in Detroit, MI that are not ranked
17 graded high schools are listed here rather than ranked, each for the reason given. Every one has its own page with its full SchoolGrade report.
Special-purpose schools (2)
Alternative, special-education and vocational schools serve a different mission and a different student body, so they are graded but not ranked against regular schools.
- D+ Covenant House Academy Detroit East Site, Detroit
- D+ Way Academy Chicago Site, Detroit
Not yet graded (15)
Too little test data to grade.
- Covenant House Academy Detroit Central Site, Detroit
- Covenant House Academy Detroit Southwest Site, Detroit
- Davis Aerospace Technical High School At Golightly, Detroit
- Detroit Public Safety Academy, Detroit
- Dpscd Virtual School, Detroit
- Frederick Douglass Academy For Young Men, Detroit
- Jerry L White Center, Detroit
- Legacy Academy, Detroit
- Lincolnking Adams Young School Grove Campus, Detroit
- Pathways Academy, Detroit
- Randolph Career And Technical Center, Detroit
- The School At Marygrove, Detroit
- Turning Point Academy, Detroit
- Way Academy Vernor Site, Detroit
- West Side Academy Of Information Technology And Cyber Securi, Detroit
About this ranking
- Scope: public high schools in Detroit, MI, as grouped on its schools page; the Michigan ranking covers the whole state.
- Order: SchoolGrade, then actual proficiency, then name; schools with the same grade and score share a rank.
- Ranked: regular public schools that NCES lists as open, not fully online, with at least 30 students. Others are listed with the reason.
- Tags: Magnet and Charter from the NCES school directory; K-12 marks schools serving every grade that are ranked with the high schools.
- Grades are the 2025-26 SchoolGrade model. How SchoolGrade works
Questions about high schools in Detroit, MI
What is the best high school in Detroit, MI?
Cass Technical High School in Detroit ranks first among the 36 ranked high schools in Detroit, MI with a SchoolGrade of C+, 37% of tested students meeting the state bar against a projected 28%.
How are high schools in Detroit, MI ranked?
By SchoolGrade, the 2025-26 model that scores each school's actual test proficiency against the level projected for its student context, then by actual proficiency to break ties. Regular public schools that are open, not fully online and have at least 30 students are ranked; the rest are listed below the table with the reason.
How many high schools does Detroit, MI have?
SchoolGrade grades 53 public high schools in Detroit, MI; 36 are ranked here and 17 are listed as not ranked.