What are the best public high schools in Washington? Here are the top 10
A new report ranks the best public high schools in Washington and across the country, and one school near Seattle placed high on both lists.
Nikola Tesla STEM High School in Redmond took the Evergreen State’s top spot, and it cracked the top 20 for the U.S., coming in at No. 18, according to U.S. News & World Report, which releases its high school rankings each year.
The outlet looked at 24,000-plus public high schools across the country, ranking nearly 18,000 of them based on factors from test scores to graduation rates.
It creates the rankings “to give an unbiased look at how well schools serve their students and help you make informed decisions about your child’s education,” the outlet said, adding that “we believe that better education drives the future.”
Here’s a look at the top public high schools in Washington and the U.S. for 2025-26
What are the best public high schools in Washington?
Here are Washington’s top 10 public high schools, according to U.S. News & World Report:
1. Nikola Tesla STEM High School, Redmond
2. International School, Bellevue
3. Newport Senior High School, Bellevue
4. Raisbeck Aviation High School, Tukwila
5. Lincoln High School, Seattle
6. Bainbridge High School, Bainbridge Island
7. Interlake Senior High School, Bellevue
8. Mercer Island High School, Mercer Island
9 . Vancouver iTech Preparatory, Vancouver
10. Bellevue High School, Bellevue
What about other high schools in the state?
If you’re interested in a specific school, geographic area or school district in Washington, you’re in luck. You can search by school name, by area and by school district to see how schools stack up. Olympia High School, for example, is the top public high school in the Olympia School District and in the Olympia metro area, along with being No. 40 in the state, according to U.S. News & World Report.
In Tacoma’s school district, called Tacoma Public Schools, the Science and Math Institute is ranked as the top public high school. It’s No. 21 in the state and No. 15 in Seattle metro area high schools, U.S. News & World Report said.
What are the best public high schools in the U.S.?
Here are the top 10 public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report:
1. BASIS Tucson North, Tucson, Arizona
2. Signature School, Evansville, Indiana
3. Central Magnet School, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
4. Davidson Academy, Reno, Nevada
5. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia
6. Albuquerque Institute of Math and Science, Albuquerque, New Mexico
7. Haas Hall Bentonville, Bentonville, Arkansas
8. Julia R. Masterman Secondary School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9. The School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, Texas
10. Aiken Scholars Academy, Aiken, South Carolina
How were schools ranked?
The high schools were ranked based on performance in six weighted categories.
Here are the categories and their weights:
- College readiness, based on the percentage of seniors who took one or more International Baccalaureate or Advanced Placement exam and the percentage who got a qualifying score on one or more of those exams, 30% weight.
- State assessment proficiency, based on state test scores, 20% weight.
- State assessment performance, based on state test scores compared with “what U.S. News predicted based on a school’s student body,” 20% weight.
- College curriculum breadth, based on the percentage of seniors taking a variety of IB and AP courses across disciplines as well as the percentage getting qualifying scores, 10% weight
- Underserved student performance, 10% weight
- Graduation rate, 10% weight
This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What are the best public high schools in Washington? Here are the top 10."
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