California · NCES CCD 2024-25
Best School Districts in California Top 50 districts ranked by average school quality score, based on student-teacher ratios, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance.
50 Districts ranked
216,154 Students enrolled
45/100 Avg quality score
C Top grade The ranking in one line
Hillsborough City Elementary in Hillsborough leads California's districts with an average school quality score of 56.5/100 across 4 schools.
56.5/100 top district score (grade C)
4 schools in Hillsborough City Elementary
1,294 students in the top district
45/100 average across the top 50 # District Grade Students Schools Avg S:T Per-Pupil $ Avg Quality 1 Hillsborough City Elementary Hillsborough C 1,294 4 15.6:1 $28,278 56.5 2 Los Angeles County Office of Education Downey C 1,533 8 11.5:1 $316,298 55.1 3 Piedmont City Unified Piedmont C- 2,336 6 16:1 $20,957 54.3 4 Holtville Unified Holtville C- 1,573 6 16.3:1 $15,872 52.2 5 Goleta Union Elementary Goleta C- 3,416 9 19.2:1 $22,500 52.1 6 Portola Valley Elementary Portola Valley C- 515 2 14.8:1 $31,688 51.5 7 Manhattan Beach Unified Manhattan Beach C- 5,895 7 22.9:1 $16,366 51.1 8 Rosedale Union Elementary Bakersfield D 6,041 9 21.7:1 $11,913 49.6 9 Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified Palos Verdes Estates D 10,457 17 23.1:1 $14,775 47.9 10 Kings Canyon Joint Unified Reedley D 9,684 21 22.7:1 $16,344 46.7 11 Orinda Union Elementary Orinda D 2,516 5 20.7:1 $14,746 46.2 12 Tahoe-Truckee Unified Truckee D 3,965 11 18.3:1 $20,636 46.2 13 Saint Helena Unified St. Helena D 1,121 4 13.4:1 $34,699 46 14 Reed Union Elementary Tiburon D 1,024 3 15.6:1 $23,744 46 15 Pacific Grove Unified Pacific Grove D 1,772 5 15.9:1 $23,215 45.4 16 Tamalpais Union High Larkspur D 4,837 5 17:1 $20,137 45.2 17 Kingsburg Elementary Charter Kingsburg D 2,135 7 21.4:1 — 45.1 18 Los Altos Elementary Los Altos D 3,355 9 18.9:1 $20,931 45.1 19 Saugus Union Santa Clarita D 9,097 15 26.2:1 $12,536 45.1 20 Oak Park Unified Oak Park D 4,236 7 23.6:1 $12,034 45 21 Heber Elementary Heber D 1,186 2 21.6:1 $18,420 45 22 Brea-Olinda Unified Brea D 5,811 10 20.7:1 $14,114 44.8 23 Fresno County Office of Education Fresno D 748 3 8.7:1 $241,968 44.7 24 Las Lomitas Elementary Menlo Park D 1,151 2 18.1:1 $30,394 44.5 25 Gravenstein Union Elementary Sebastopol D 768 3 18.9:1 $14,530 44.3 26 Lammersville Joint Unified Mountain House D 7,520 8 23.8:1 $10,700 43.9 27 Cypress Elementary Cypress D 3,389 6 25.1:1 $14,303 43.7 28 Tulare County Office of Education Visalia D 1,636 5 14.2:1 $104,615 43.6 29 San Pasqual Valley Unified Winterhaven D 591 5 13:1 $29,005 43.6 30 Laton Joint Unified Laton D 628 4 16.2:1 $17,651 43.5 31 El Dorado County Office of Education Placerville D 782 5 11:1 $68,327 43.4 32 San Diego County Office of Education San Diego D 1,036 7 8.9:1 $269,693 43.3 33 Berkeley Unified Berkeley D 9,073 17 16.8:1 $21,454 43.1 34 Cutten Elementary Eureka D 562 2 21.5:1 $13,244 43 35 Santa Barbara Unified Santa Barbara D 12,583 20 17.4:1 $16,366 43 36 Central Union High El Centro D 4,093 5 19.5:1 $16,425 42.8 37 Saratoga Union Elementary Saratoga D 1,625 4 21.1:1 $22,720 42.5 38 Madera County Superintendent of Schools Madera D 663 4 14.4:1 $64,738 42.5 39 Laguna Beach Unified Laguna Beach D 2,456 4 18.3:1 $26,628 42.3 40 Palo Alto Unified Palo Alto D 10,318 19 17.8:1 $27,172 42.2 41 La Canada Unified La Canada D 3,877 4 24.1:1 $14,462 42 42 Beverly Hills Unified Beverly Hills D 3,140 5 14.1:1 $27,589 42 43 Fallbrook Union High Fallbrook D 2,096 3 23.6:1 $16,598 42 44 Fullerton Elementary Fullerton D 11,626 20 26.1:1 $15,836 41.9 45 Novato Unified Novato D 7,208 14 22:1 $14,065 41.8 46 Jefferson Elementary Tracy D 2,623 4 23.5:1 $11,365 41.8 47 Rancho Santa Fe Elementary Rancho Santa Fe D 574 2 13.5:1 $21,886 41.5 48 San Joaquin County Office of Education Stockton D 1,778 3 11.4:1 $103,965 41.3 49 Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High Los Gatos D 3,269 2 20.9:1 $20,280 41 50 Irvine Unified Irvine D 36,542 45 26.3:1 $13,289 40.6
Frequently Asked Questions What are the best school districts in California? ▼ The top-ranked district in California is Hillsborough City Elementary in Hillsborough with 1,294 students across 4 schools. Average quality score: 56.5/100. Rankings are based on average school quality scores from NCES data.
How are district rankings calculated? ▼ Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be ranked.
How many school districts are in California? ▼ California has 50+ school districts serving 5,787,663 students. The statewide average student-teacher ratio is 21.6:1.
Explore More for California Methodology
Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100)
are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 metrics: student-teacher ratio,
school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates.
Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be included. This measures
school-level resources, not test scores. Higher average scores indicate districts where
schools generally have smaller classes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.
Read our methodology
— how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.