Philadelphia's Julia R. Masterman School again makes Top 10 in U.S. News & World Report high school rankings
A Philadelphia high school once again finished in the Top 10, and 42 public high schools across the tristate area ranked in the Top 500 in the latest "Best High Schools" rankings published by U.S. News and World Report on Tuesday.
Philly's Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School placed 8th in the national rankings, and Downingtown STEM Academy in Chester County placed 22nd.
BASIS Tucson North, in Tucson, Arizona, placed first in the 2025 rankings. BASIS Peoria in Peoria, Arizona, placed first in the 2024 rankings. Both are operated by BASIS Charter Schools Inc.
U.S. News' annual rankings of public high schools and charter schools rate schools on their graduation rates and students' performance on state assessment tests, and AP and IB exams.
Masterman, a Philadelphia "magnet school" with a highly selective admissions process and a regular top performer, finished 4th in the 2024 rankings.
Demographic data attached to the rankings shows most of the schools in the top 25% were in suburbs of cities. Of those top performers, 29.2% were in cities, 44% were in suburbs of cities, and 26.8% were in rural areas or towns distant from urban areas.
Among all ranked schools, 25.4% were in cities, 25.8% were in suburbs and 48.8% were in rural areas.
Check out which schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware were ranked Top 500 in the U.S., and see the full rankings and methodology on U.S. News' site.
Pennsylvania schools in U.S. News & World Report rankings
- 8th: Julia R. Masterman Secondary School, School District of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
- 22nd: Downingtown STEM Academy, Downingtown Area School District, Chester County
- 208th: Central High School, School District of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
- 308th: New Hope-Solebury High School, New Hope-Solebury School District, Bucks County
- 320th: Unionville High School, Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, Chester and Delaware counties
- 379th: Radnor High School, Radnor Township School District, Delaware County
- 433rd: Mt. Lebanon High School, Mt. Lebanon School District, Allegheny County
- 455th: Pine-Richland High School, Pine-Richland School District, Allegheny County
- 465th: Peters Township High School, Peters Township School District, Washington County
- 491st: Conestoga High School, Tredyffrin-Easttown School District, Chester County
- 492nd: Lower Merion High School, Lower Merion School District, Montgomery County
New Jersey schools in U.S. News & World Report rankings
The best-ranked schools in South Jersey were Moorestown High School in Burlington County, ranked 819th; and Haddonfield Memorial High School in Camden County, ranked 965th.
- 27th: High Technology High School, Monmouth County Vocational School District
- 41st: Bergen County Academies, Bergen County Vocational Technical School District
- 59th: Edison Academy Magnet School, Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District
- 77th: Dr. Ronald E. McNair High School, Jersey City Public Schools
- 79th: Union County Magnet High School, Union County Vocational-Technical School District
- 80th: Biotechnology High School, Monmouth County Vocational School District
- 82nd: Bergen County Technical High School - Teterboro, Bergen County Vocational Technical School District
- 90th: Woodbridge Academy Magnet School, Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District
- 94th: Academy for Information Technology, Union County Vocational-Technical School District
- 114th: Academy for Allied Health Sciences, Union County Vocational-Technical School District
- 186th: Marine Academy of Science and Technology, Monmouth County Vocational School District
- 244th: Millburn High School, Millburn Township School District
- 282nd: Glen Ridge High School, Glen Ridge Public School District
- 283rd: STEM Innovation Academy of the Oranges, Orange Board of Education School District
- 288th: Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health and Science, Monmouth County Vocational School District
- 315th: Diana C. Lobosco STEM Academy, Passaic County Vocational School District
- 347th: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
- 354th: Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest in Northern Valley Regional High School District
- 360th: Infinity Institute, Jersey City Public Schools
- 418th: Livingston High School, Livingston Board of Education School District
- 431st: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
- 439th: John P. Stevens High School, Edison Township School District
- 447th: Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School, Somerset County
- 458th: Tenafly High School, Tenafly Public School District
- 461st: Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, Somerset County
- 464th: Montgomery High School, Montgomery Township School District
- 469th: Union County Tech, Union County Vocational-Technical School District
Delaware schools in U.S. News & World Report rankings
- 87th: Charter School of Wilmington, New Castle County
- 273rd: Sussex Academy, Sussex County
- 370th: Newark Charter School, New Castle County
- 422nd: Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Red Clay Consolidated School District, New Castle County