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Best High Schools in San Diego, CA (2025-26)
Every ranked high school in San Diego, CA, 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.
San Diego, CA rankings: High Schools · Middle Schools · Elementary Schools
San Diego, CA high schools ranked
| Rank | Grade | School | City | District | Actual | Projected | Impact | Students |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | A+ | Canyon Crest Academy | San Diego | San Dieguito Union High | 86% | 84% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 2,336 |
| #2 | A+ | Del Norte High | San Diego | Poway Unified | 75% | 77% | Exceeds Expectations | 2,531 |
| #3 | A+ | Scripps Ranch High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 75% | 73% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 1,984 |
| #4 | A+ | Westview High | San Diego | Poway Unified | 74% | 77% | Exceeds Expectations | 2,257 |
| #5 | A+ | School For Entrepreneurship And Technology (Charter) | San Diego | School for Entrepreneurship and Technology District | 65% | 44% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 228 |
| #6 | A | Mission Bay High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 63% | 60% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 1,169 |
| #7 | A | Mt Carmel High | San Diego | Poway Unified | 63% | 71% | Meets Expectations | 1,865 |
| #8 | A | High Tech High Mesa (Charter) | San Diego | High Tech High Mesa District | 61% | 43% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 434 |
| #9 | A | Torrey Pines High | San Diego | San Dieguito Union High | 61% | 77% | Doesn't Meet Expectations | 2,614 |
| #10 | A | Rancho Bernardo High | San Diego | Poway Unified | 60% | 66% | Exceeds Expectations | 2,318 |
| #11 | A | Henry High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 59% | 60% | Exceeds Expectations | 2,607 |
| #12 | A | University City High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 59% | 66% | Meets Expectations | 1,543 |
| #13 | A | Poway To Palomar Middle College High | San Diego | 58% | 65% | Meets Expectations | 37 | |
| #14 | A | Point Loma High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 56% | 61% | Exceeds Expectations | 1,714 |
| #15 | A- | Mira Mesa High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 53% | 57% | Exceeds Expectations | 2,219 |
| #16 | A- | High Tech High International (Charter) | San Diego | High Tech High International District | 52% | 34% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 396 |
| #17 | A- | Kearny Eng Innov And Design | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 51% | 38% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 311 |
| #18 | A- | Kearny School Of Biomedical Science And Technology | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 49% | 41% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 332 |
| #19 | A- | Kearny College Connections | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 47% | 37% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 357 |
| #20 | A- | The Ofarrell Charter (Charter, K-12) | San Diego | The O'Farrell Charter District | 43% | 32% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 1,818 |
| #21 | B+ | High Tech High (Charter) | San Diego | High Tech High District | 46% | 35% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 521 |
| #22 | B+ | Kearny Digital Media And Design | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 46% | 37% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 344 |
| #23 | B+ | San Diego Scpa | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 44% | 46% | Exceeds Expectations | 1,231 |
| #24 | B+ | Canyon Hills High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 42% | 49% | Meets Expectations | 1,307 |
| #25 | B+ | San Diego Virtual (Charter) | San Diego | San Diego Virtual District | 41% | 52% | Meets Expectations | 398 |
| #26 | B+ | Learning Choice Academy (Charter, K-12) | San Diego | Learning Choice Academy District | 40% | 35% | Exceeds Expectations | 170 |
| #27 | B | Clairemont High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 40% | 48% | Meets Expectations | 835 |
| #28 | B | Morse High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 40% | 33% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 1,675 |
| #29 | B | San Diego High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 39% | 41% | Exceeds Expectations | 2,105 |
| #30 | B | Audeo Charter (Charter, K-12) | San Diego | Altus Schools Audeo District | 36% | 38% | Exceeds Expectations | 309 |
| #31 | B- | Madison High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 34% | 39% | Exceeds Expectations | 944 |
| #32 | B- | Montgomery Senior High | San Diego | Sweetwater Union High | 33% | 39% | Exceeds Expectations | 1,745 |
| #33 | C+ | Gompers Preparatory Academy (Charter) | San Diego | Gompers Preparatory Academy District | 30% | 26% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 1,279 |
| #34 | C+ | Hoover High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 29% | 30% | Exceeds Expectations | 2,265 |
| #35 | C+ | San Ysidro High | San Diego | Sweetwater Union High | 29% | 35% | Meets Expectations | 2,316 |
| #36 | C | Crawford High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 28% | 31% | Exceeds Expectations | 1,193 |
| #37 | C | Southwest Senior High | San Diego | Sweetwater Union High | 28% | 43% | Doesn't Meet Expectations | 1,645 |
| #38 | C | Charter School Of San Diego (Charter) | San Diego | Altus Schools Charter School of San Diego District | 25% | 43% | Doesn't Meet Expectations | 1,415 |
| #39 | C- | High Tech High Media Arts (Charter) | San Diego | High Tech High Media Arts District | 23% | 34% | Meets Expectations | 389 |
| #40 | C- | E3 Civic High (Charter) | San Diego | e3 Civic High District | 22% | 25% | Exceeds Expectations | 398 |
| #41 | C- | Urban Discovery Academy Charter (Charter, K-12) | San Diego | Urban Discovery Academy Charter District | 22% | 22% | Exceeds Expectations | 382 |
| #42 | C- | Lincoln High | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 21% | 26% | Exceeds Expectations | 1,407 |
| #43 | D+ | King Chavez Community High (Charter) | San Diego | King-Chavez Community High District | 19% | 16% | Greatly Exceeds Expectations | 258 |
| #44 | D+ | Health Sciences High And Middle College (Charter) | San Diego | Health Sciences High and Middle College District | 17% | 33% | Doesn't Meet Expectations | 525 |
| #45 | D+ | Ingenuity Charter (Charter) | San Diego | Ingenuity Charter District | 16% | 19% | Exceeds Expectations | 154 |
| #46 | D | Americas Finest Charter (Charter, K-12) | San Diego | America's Finest Charter District | 12% | 16% | Meets Expectations | 444 |
| #47 | D | Logan Memorial Educational Campus (K-12) | San Diego | San Diego Unified | 12% | 18% | Meets Expectations | 1,037 |
| #48 | D | City Heights Preparatory Charter (Charter) | San Diego | City Heights Preparatory Charter District | 9% | 17% | Meets Expectations | 141 |
How San Diego, CA's high schools compare
A: 20B: 12C: 10D: 6
67% of the 48 ranked high schools in San Diego, CA earn an A or B (20 A grades, 12 B, 10 C, 6 D, 0 F), against 50% of high schools nationwide. 44 schools meet or beat the proficiency projected from their student context (92% here, 74% nationally), and 33 exceed it. On average 42% of tested students meet the state bar against a projected 44% (national averages: 44% actual, 41% projected).
The biggest overperformers, by actual proficiency above projection: School For Entrepreneurship And Technology (65% against 44%, A+), High Tech High Mesa (61% against 43%, A), High Tech High International (52% against 34%, A-), Kearny Eng Innov And Design (51% against 38%, A-), The Ofarrell Charter (43% against 32%, A-).
Districts with the most schools in the top quarter (the top 12): Poway Unified (4), San Diego Unified (4), San Dieguito Union High (2).
The largest ranked high schools: Torrey Pines High (2,614 students, A, #9), Henry High (2,607 students, A, #11), Del Norte High (2,531 students, A+, #2).
Of the top 25, 0 are magnet schools and 6 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 San Diego, CA that are not ranked
18 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 (11)
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 Alba, San Diego
- A- East Village Middle College High, San Diego
- D Garfield High, San Diego
- B- Launch Virtual Academy, San Diego
- D- Monarch, San Diego
- A+ Mt Everest Academy, San Diego
- D Rileynew Dawn, San Diego
- D- San Diego County Community, San Diego
- F San Diego County Court, San Diego
- B+ San Diego Metro Career And Tech, San Diego
- D Twain High, San Diego
Fully online schools (1)
Statewide virtual schools draw students from everywhere, so a place ranking is not a fair comparison.
- C+ San Diego Mission Academy, San Diego
Not yet graded (6)
Our source data has no school-level proficiency results for these schools, so they carry no SchoolGrade yet.
- Diego Hills Central Public Charter, San Diego
- Home And Hosptransition Support, San Diego
- San Diego County Special Education, San Diego
- Trace, San Diego
- Urban Corps Of San Diego County Charter, San Diego
- Whittier K 12, San Diego
About this ranking
- Scope: public high schools in San Diego, CA, as grouped on its schools page; the California 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 San Diego, CA
What is the best high school in San Diego, CA?
Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego ranks first among the 48 ranked high schools in San Diego, CA with a SchoolGrade of A+, 86% of tested students meeting the state bar against a projected 84%.
How are high schools in San Diego, CA 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 San Diego, CA have?
SchoolGrade grades 66 public high schools in San Diego, CA; 48 are ranked here and 18 are listed as not ranked.