Eight Alabama public high schools ranked among the top 5% nationally in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.
U.S. News ranked nearly 18,000 of the nation’s roughly 27,000 public high schools based on measures that include state test performance, graduation rates, and students’ participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.
The nation’s top-ranked high school is in Tennessee: Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro, which moved up from No. 3 last year. Alabama’s highest-ranked school, New Century Tech Demo High School in Huntsville, ranked No. 131 nationally.
U.S. News says the rankings are intended to help families compare public high schools and make decisions about local education options.
“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,” LaMont Jones, U.S. News’ managing editor for education, said.
Alabama’s eight highest-ranked schools – those who are in the top 5% nationally, are:
- New Century Tech Demo High School in Huntsville City schools – No. 131, up from No. 380 last year;
- Homewood High School in Homewood City schools – No. 212, up from No. 363;
- Mountain Brook High School in Mountain Brook City schools – No. 215, up from No. 505;
- Vestavia Hills High School in Vestavia Hills City schools – No. 533, up from No. 658;
- Hewitt-Trussville High School in Trussville City schools – No. 679, up from No. 1,007;
- Fairhope High School in Baldwin County schools – No. 701, up from No. 912;
- Spain Park High School in Hoover City schools – No. 782, up from No. 1,126; and
- Oak Mountain High School in Shelby County schools – No. 818, up from No. 1,726.
Another nine Alabama schools ranked between the top 5% and top 10% nationally. In all, 64 Alabama schools – 21.8% of those ranked – placed in the top 25% nationwide.
Because nearly 18,000 schools are ranked and many have scores that are very close together, even small changes in a school’s overall score can produce large year-to-year changes in its numerical rank. Changes in state assessments or data-suppression rules can also affect a school’s rank or prevent it from being ranked at all.
Notably missing from the newest rankings is Montgomery County’s Loveless Academic Magnet Program, or LAMP High School, which ranked No. 1 in Alabama last year and also in previous years. LAMP is included on U.S. News’ list of Alabama high schools but received no ranking this year. U.S. News officials did not immediately return a request for clarification.
Private schools are not included in U.S. News’ rankings because students at private schools generally are not required to take the statewide accountability tests used in the rankings. Without comparable state assessment data, U.S. News says private schools cannot be included.
Alabama’s Top 25
Several Alabama schools made substantial moves up in rankings this year. Wicksburg High School jumped from No. 123 in Alabama last year to No. 23 this year, while Jacksonville High School climbed from No. 66 to No. 20.
Here are the top 25 Alabama high schools according to U.S. News:
- New Century Tech Demo High School in Huntsville City – up from No. 3 last year,
- Homewood High School in Homewood City – the same rank as last year,
- Mountain Brook High School in Mountain Brook City – up from No. 4,
- Vestavia Hills High School in Vestavia Hills City – up from No. 5,
- Hewitt-Trussville High School in Trussville City – up from No. 7,
- Fairhope High School in Baldwin County – the same rank as last year,
- Spain Park High School in Hoover City – up from No. 9,
- Oak Mountain High School in Shelby County – up from No. 15,
- James Clemens High School in Madison City – down from No. 8,
- Arab High School in Arab City – up from No. 11,
- Huntsville High School in Huntsville City – up from No. 14,
- T.R. Miller High School in Brewton City – up from No. 19,
- Bob Jones High School in Madison City – down from No. 10,
- Auburn High School in Auburn City – up from No. 24,
- Spanish Fort High School in Baldwin County – up from No. 32,
- Hoover High School in Hoover City – down from No. 13,
- Cullman High School in Cullman City – up from No. 23,
- Madison County High School in Madison County – up from No. 35,
- Hartselle High School in Hartselle City – down from No. 17,
- Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville City – up from No. 66,
- Brewbaker Tech Magnet High School in Montgomery Public Schools – down from No. 20,
- Springville High School in St. Clair County – up from No. 43,
- Wicksburg High School in Houston County – up from No. 123,
- Chelsea High School in Shelby County – up from No. 40, and
- Plainview School in DeKalb County – down from No. 21.
Individual rankings for 204 of Alabama’s 391 high schools are available on the U.S. News website at this link. The website contains individual scores and other information on each school’s profile.
Eighty-nine Alabama high schools were grouped together in a range from No. 205 to No. 293 because they scored in the bottom 25% nationally.
Another 98 Alabama high schools received no ranking, including LAMP. U.S. News says a school may go unranked if it does not have a 12th grade, has fewer than 15 12th-graders or or the state suppressed too much of its assessment data for U.S. News to calculate a ranking. Certain specialty schools, including some with vocational orientations, also are not ranked.
The data used to calculate the measures in this year’s rankings are from the 2023-24 school year.
Alabama rises to No. 29 among states
Alabama ranked 29th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., up from 31st last year. Massachusetts led the country, followed by New Jersey and Maryland.
The state ranking is based on the percentage of each state’s ranked schools performing in the top 25% nationally.
U.S. News describes the state-level rank as reflecting “which states are most successfully educating students based on state test scores, graduation rates, and the proportions of students participating in – and earning qualifying scores on – AP and IB exams.”
Ranks for other Southeastern states include:
- Florida – No. 4
- Georgia – No. 17
- Kentucky – No. 21
- South Carolina – No. 27
- Arkansas – No. 30
- Tennessee – No. 31
- Louisiana – No. 36
- Mississippi – No. 43
Other U.S. News rankings
U.S. News also ranks charter schools and STEM schools. It publishes rankings within school districts that have more than one high school and by metropolitan area.
Two Alabama high schools ranked nationally in the STEM category: Mountain Brook High School at No. 246 and Homewood High School at No. 475.
Magic City Acceptance Academy was the only Alabama public charter school to earn a national rank, at No. 742 out of 2,135 schools ranked nationwide. None of Alabama’s charter schools made the list last year.
U.S. News published within-district rankings for 34 Alabama school districts and rankings for nearly two dozen Alabama metro areas.
While schools are allowed to celebrate and publicize the rankings, they have to purchase a license to use the distinctive U.S. News gold-and-blue badge on their websites or in other media.
Methodology
U.S. News ranks schools using six measures.
College readiness accounts for 30% of a school’s score and is based on the percentage of 12th-graders who took and earned qualifying scores on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams.
Another 10% is based on how broadly students participate and perform across AP and IB subjects.
State test results account for 40% of the score. Half of that measures the percentage of students who are proficient in math, science and reading. The other half measures whether students performed better or worse than expected based on the school’s student population.
Graduation rates account for 10% of the score.
The remaining 10% measures performance among Black, Hispanic and low-income students.
U.S. News combines those measures into an overall score and then ranks high schools against their peers in descending order of their overall scores.
Schools in the bottom 25% nationally are grouped into a range rather than given an individual numerical rank.