Santa Cruz High School at a glance
- National rank: #1,256 (2026-27 edition)
- California rank: #200
- Previous edition: Up from #2,375 in 2025-26
- Graduation rate: 96.2% (2025-26 edition data)
- Students: 1,093
Questions about Santa Cruz High School
How is Santa Cruz High School ranked?
Santa Cruz High School is ranked #1,256 nationally and #200 in California in the 2026-27 U.S. News Best High Schools edition, better than 93% of the 17,945 schools U.S. News ranked.
Has Santa Cruz High School's ranking changed?
Santa Cruz High School is #1,256 nationally in 2026-27, up from #2,375 in 2025-26.
How many students attend Santa Cruz High School?
Santa Cruz High School has 1,093 students (2026-27 edition data), compared with a median of 873 for ranked schools across California.
What is the graduation rate at Santa Cruz High School?
Santa Cruz High School's graduation rate is 96.2% (2025-26 edition data).
How many students at Santa Cruz High School take AP exams?
At Santa Cruz High School, 64% of students take at least one AP exam (2026-27 edition data).
How do Santa Cruz High School students score on state tests?
At Santa Cruz High School, 58% of students are proficient in math and 75% in reading on state assessments (2026-27 edition data).
Ranks are from the 2026-27 U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools edition. How HighSchoolTrends uses this data.
Sources
- U.S. News & World Report, Best High Schools, 2026-2027 edition: California list, read Aug 20, 2026. California list (live page; it may have changed since we read it)
Used for: national rank, state rank, AP participation, math proficiency, reading proficiency, enrollment. - U.S. News & World Report, Best High Schools, 2025-2026 edition: figures recovered from our records and checked against archived U.S. News pages by sample; archived U.S. News list page.
Used for: previous national rank, graduation rate. - U.S. News & World Report, Best High Schools, editions 2022-2023 to 2026-2027.
Used for: rank and figure history on the trend chart. - U.S. News & World Report, Best High Schools, 2026-2027 edition, California list, read Aug 20, 2026. California list (live page; it may have changed since we read it)
Used for: median school figures. - NCES Common Core of Data (U.S. Department of Education), school years 2015-2016 to 2024-2025, via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. NCES school record · Urban Institute Education Data Portal · ODC-By license
Used for: enrollment by school year, students per teacher, free or reduced-price lunch share. - EDFacts adjusted cohort graduation rates (U.S. Department of Education), school years 2010-2011 to 2019-2020, via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. Urban Institute Education Data Portal · ODC-By license
Used for: federal graduation rate by school year. - Civil Rights Data Collection (U.S. Department of Education), 2021-2022 collection, chronic absenteeism 2022-2023, via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. Civil Rights Data Collection data · Urban Institute Education Data Portal · ODC-By license
Used for: chronic absenteeism, suspension rates, counselors per 1,000 students, certified teachers, AP courses offered. - U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 95060. Table B19013, ZIP 95060 · Table B25077, ZIP 95060 · Table B17001, ZIP 95060 · Table B15003, ZIP 95060 · Table B20002, ZIP 95060
Used for: ZIP-area median household income, ZIP-area median home value, ZIP-area poverty rate, ZIP-area adults with a bachelor's degree, ZIP-area median earnings.