2026 US News rankings released for public high schools in North Carolina
The U.S. News & World Report released its updated rankings on Aug. 18 of public North Carolina high schools for the 2026-27 academic year based on several student performance indicators.
The results come after evaluating about 27,000 eligible public high schools across the country, with nearly 18,000 ranked, U.S. News said on their website. Every state and the District of Columbia was ranked and compared based on which states have the largest proportion of their high schools in the top 25% of the 2026-27 rankings.
North Carolina ranks 24th overall.
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“Every student deserves a pathway to success, and that journey often begins with selecting the right school,” says LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News. “The 2026-2027 Best High Schools rankings empower families with the valuable data and transparency they need to help make the best educational choices for them. We are proud to offer this essential resource to help shape the next generation of college-ready students.”
The research methodology was developed in partnership with RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm based in North Carolina.
For high school rankings, the following indicators were considered: college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance, underserved student performance, and graduation rate, U.S. News’ descriptors say.
According to the methodology behind the rankings, several indicators consider socioeconomic factors. The calculations U.S. News made for the state assessment performance indicator goes beyond student scores and considers how well they did compared to expectations of schools with similar demographics within that state. College curriculum breadth is based on 12th grader participation in Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses and the exam results.
All rankings were determined using data from the 2023-24 school year.
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Public schools that are listed include traditional public schools, magnet schools, charter schools, early colleges, and lab schools.
A traditional public school is funded by the government, free to attend, and housed within a school district. Magnet schools are schools in districts that cater to a specific subject or skill.
Charter schools are public and free to attend, but require applications from students to fill limited seats and have more flexibility than traditional public schools. Lab schools, or laboratory schools, test different educational models while allowing student teachers to work.
This year’s rankings are based on data from the 2023-24 academic year and also included rankings of the best schools for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. According to the report’s methodology, the top 2,000 high schools were assessed for student participation and scores on the science and math AP exams. The top 500 of those results were then listed in the rankings.
In North Carolina, there are 115 local public school districts and 2,500+ district public schools, over 200 charter and lab schools, and one regional school. This year, 604 North Carolina schools made the U.S. News rankings.
The Early College at Guilford, ranked No. 26 nationally, was also placed at the top of the list in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Below, you can find the top 10 N.C. schools in each category.
Top 10 public high schools in NC overall
- No. 26: The Early College at Guilford – Public early college (Guilford County Schools)
- No. 48: The STEM Early College at N.C. A&T – Public early college (Guilford County Schools)
- No. 89: Onslow Early College – Public early college (Onslow County Schools)
- No. 148: Wake NCSU STEM Early College High School – Public early college (Wake County Public School System)
- No. 177: Raleigh Charter High School – Charter school (Raleigh)
- No. 232: Martin L. Nesbitt Discovery Academy – Magnet school (Buncombe County Schools)
- No. 289: Philip J. Weaver Ed Center – Magnet school (Guilford County Schools)
- No. 317: Green Level High – Traditional public school (Wake County Public Schools System)
- No. 344: Highland School of Technology – Magnet school (Gaston County Schools)
- No. 435: Woods Charter School – Charter school (Chapel Hill)
Top charter schools in NC, based on national charter rankings
- No. 41: Raleigh Charter High School (Raleigh)
- No. 92: Woods Charter School (Chapel Hill)
- No. 99: The North Carolina Leadership Academy (Kernersville)
- No. 108: Triangle Math and Science Academy (Cary)
- No. 113: Lake Norman Charter (Huntersville)
- No. 128: Research Triangle High School (Durham)
- No. 133: Pine Lake Preparatory (Mooresville)
- No. 163: Gray Stone Day (Misenheimer)
- No. 174: Henderson Collegiate (Henderson)
- No. 176: Franklin Academy (Wake Forest)
Top NC STEM Schools and their respective national rankings
- No. 10: The Early College at Guilford – Public early college (Guilford County Schools)
- No. 34: Raleigh Charter High School – Charter school (Raleigh)
- No. 69: The North Carolina Leadership Academy – Charter school (Kernersville)
- No. 253: Martin L. Nesbitt Discovery Academy – Magnet school (Buncombe County Schools)
- No. 294: Ardrey Kell High School – Traditional public school (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools)
- No. 340: Chapel Hill High School – Traditional public school (Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools)
- No. 345: STEM Early College at N.C. A&T – Public early college (Guilford County Schools)
- No. 457: Weddington High School– Traditional public school (Union County Public Schools)
- No. 465: Green Level High – Traditional public school (Wake County Public School System)
- No. 491: Green Hope High School – Traditional public school (Wake County Public School System)
To read the full lists and learn more about each school listed, visit this page.