{"answer":"California has 3,261 high schools: 2,574 public and 687 private. The largest is Granada Hills Charter in Granada Hills, with 4,614 students in grades 9 through 12.","as_of":"October 2026","date":"2026-10-15","dek":"The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in California by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.","faq":[{"a":"California has 3,261 high schools: 2,574 public and 687 private. The largest is Granada Hills Charter in Granada Hills, with 4,614 students in grades 9 through 12.","q":"How many high schools are in California?"},{"a":"It enrolls 4,614 students in grades 9 through 12 in Granada Hills.","q":"What is the largest high school in California?"},{"a":"2,574 are public and 687 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.","q":"Are private high schools included in the California count?"}],"findings":[{"h":"California has 3,261 high schools.","p":"2,574 are public and 687 are private. The 2,372 public high schools that report enrollment hold 1,809,954 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it."},{"h":"Granada Hills Charter is the largest public high school in California.","p":"It enrolls 4,614 students in grades 9 through 12 in Granada Hills. The 15th largest school on the table, Vista Murrieta High in Murrieta, enrolls 3,328. 3 of the 15 largest are charter schools."},{"h":"The largest private high school in California is Brookshire International Academy.","p":"It enrolls 1,810 students in San Francisco. That is smaller than every public school on the table above. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school."}],"license":"CC BY 4.0 \u2014 quote with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)","method":"Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.","question":"How many high schools are in California, and which are the largest?","related":[{"label":"How many high schools are there in each state?","url":"/research/how-many-high-schools-in-each-state"},{"label":"The 50 largest public high schools in America","url":"/research/largest-public-high-schools"},{"label":"Do California public universities require the SAT or ACT?","url":"/test-policy/california"}],"sections":[{"h2":"What these counts cover","paragraphs":["A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.","Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count."]},{"h2":"Private high schools in California","paragraphs":["The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.","Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other."]},{"h2":"What a family should do with this","paragraphs":["Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.","The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each California high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building."]}],"slug":"high-schools-in-california","sources":[{"label":"NCES Common Core of Data","url":"https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/"},{"label":"NCES Private School Universe Survey","url":"https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/"}],"tables":[{"columns":[{"fmt":"str","key":"school","label":"High school"},{"fmt":"str","key":"city","label":"City"},{"fmt":"int","key":"students_9_12","label":"Students in grades 9-12"},{"fmt":"bool","key":"charter","label":"Charter"}],"h2":"The 15 largest public high schools in California","intro":"Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.","link_base":"/school/","note":"NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.","rows":[{"charter":true,"city":"Granada Hills","school":"Granada Hills Charter","slug":"granada-hills-charter","students_9_12":4614,"url":"/school/granada-hills-charter"},{"charter":false,"city":"Eastvale","school":"Eleanor Roosevelt High","slug":"eleanor-roosevelt-high","students_9_12":4353,"url":"/school/eleanor-roosevelt-high"},{"charter":false,"city":"Downey","school":"Downey High","slug":"downey-high","students_9_12":4051,"url":"/school/downey-high"},{"charter":false,"city":"Long Beach","school":"Polytechnic High","slug":"polytechnic-high","students_9_12":3890,"url":"/school/polytechnic-high"},{"charter":false,"city":"Downey","school":"Warren (Earl) High","slug":"warren-earl-high","students_9_12":3609,"url":"/school/warren-earl-high"},{"charter":false,"city":"Corona","school":"Santiago High","slug":"santiago-high","students_9_12":3577,"url":"/school/santiago-high"},{"charter":false,"city":"Beaumont","school":"Beaumont Senior High","slug":"beaumont-senior-high","students_9_12":3460,"url":"/school/beaumont-senior-high"},{"charter":true,"city":"San Francisco","school":"Five Keys Independence HS (SF Sheriff's)","slug":"five-keys-independence-hs-sf-sheriffs","students_9_12":3447,"url":"/school/five-keys-independence-hs-sf-sheriffs"},{"charter":false,"city":"Etiwanda","school":"Etiwanda High","slug":"etiwanda-high","students_9_12":3446,"url":"/school/etiwanda-high"},{"charter":false,"city":"Long Beach","school":"Millikan High","slug":"millikan-high","students_9_12":3408,"url":"/school/millikan-high"},{"charter":false,"city":"Pittsburg","school":"Pittsburg Senior High","slug":"pittsburg-senior-high","students_9_12":3403,"url":"/school/pittsburg-senior-high"},{"charter":false,"city":"Paramount","school":"Paramount High","slug":"paramount-high","students_9_12":3400,"url":"/school/paramount-high"},{"charter":true,"city":"Pasadena","school":"Options for Youth - Duarte Inc","slug":"options-for-youth-duarte-inc","students_9_12":3350,"url":"/school/options-for-youth-duarte-inc"},{"charter":false,"city":"Long Beach","school":"Wilson High","slug":"wilson-high-ca","students_9_12":3349,"url":"/school/wilson-high-ca"},{"charter":false,"city":"Murrieta","school":"Vista Murrieta High","slug":"vista-murrieta-high","students_9_12":3328,"url":"/school/vista-murrieta-high"}]},{"columns":[{"fmt":"str","key":"school","label":"High school"},{"fmt":"str","key":"city","label":"City"},{"fmt":"int","key":"students","label":"Students"}],"h2":"The largest private high schools in California","intro":"Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.","link_base":"/school/","note":"NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.","rows":[{"city":"San Francisco","school":"Brookshire International Academy","slug":"brookshire-international-academy","students":1810,"url":"/school/brookshire-international-academy"},{"city":"San Jose","school":"Archbishop Mitty High School","slug":"archbishop-mitty-high-school","students":1752,"url":"/school/archbishop-mitty-high-school"},{"city":"Mountain View","school":"St Francis High School","slug":"st-francis-high-school-mountain-view-ca","students":1745,"url":"/school/st-francis-high-school-mountain-view-ca"},{"city":"San Jose","school":"Bellarmine College Preparatory","slug":"bellarmine-college-preparatory","students":1665,"url":"/school/bellarmine-college-preparatory"},{"city":"San Diego","school":"Cathedral Catholic High School","slug":"cathedral-catholic-high-school","students":1612,"url":"/school/cathedral-catholic-high-school"}]}],"title":"How Many High Schools Are in California? 2,574 Public and 687 Private","updated":null,"url":"https://highschoolreach.com/research/high-schools-in-california"}