Best High Schools in Memphis, TN (2025-26)
Every ranked high school in Memphis, TN, 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.
Memphis, TN rankings: High Schools · Middle Schools · Elementary Schools
Memphis, TN high schools ranked
How Memphis, TN's high schools compare
A: 4B: 4C: 3D: 20F: 10
20% of the 41 ranked high schools in Memphis, TN earn an A or B (4 A grades, 4 B, 3 C, 20 D, 10 F), against 50% of high schools nationwide. 21 schools meet or beat the proficiency projected from their student context (51% here, 74% nationally), and 11 exceed it. On average 23% of tested students meet the state bar against a projected 29% (national averages: 44% actual, 41% projected).
The biggest overperformers, by actual proficiency above projection: Memphis Rise Academy (42% against 25%, B), Freedom Prep Middle Brownlee (28% against 11%, C-).
Districts with the most schools in the top quarter (the top 11): Memphis-Shelby County Schools (10).
The largest ranked high schools: White Station High (1,840 students, A-, #4), Whitehaven High (1,587 students, B-, #7), Southwind High (1,507 students, D, #19).
Of the top 25, 7 are magnet schools and 10 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 Memphis, TN that are not ranked
9 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 (1)
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.
- F Shrine School, Memphis
Very small schools (1)
Schools with fewer than 30 students have grades that swing on a handful of test results.
- D+ City University School Of Independence, Memphis
Not yet graded (7)
Our source data has no school-level proficiency results for these schools, so they carry no SchoolGrade yet.
- Avon School, Memphis
- Exceptional Children Special Placements, Memphis
- Fairley High School, Memphis
- Martin Luther King Preparatory High School, Memphis
- Memphis Virtual Adult High School, Memphis
- The Excel Center, Memphis
- University High School, Memphis
About this ranking
- Scope: public high schools in Memphis, TN, as grouped on its schools page; the Tennessee 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 Memphis, TN
What is the best high school in Memphis, TN?
Middle College High in Memphis ranks first among the 41 ranked high schools in Memphis, TN with a SchoolGrade of A, 59% of tested students meeting the state bar against a projected 66%.
How are high schools in Memphis, TN 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 Memphis, TN have?
SchoolGrade grades 50 public high schools in Memphis, TN; 41 are ranked here and 9 are listed as not ranked.