How Crystal Lake, Cary High Schools Rank Among Illinois’ Best

CRYSTAL LAKE-CARY, IL — Four high schools serving Crystal Lake and Cary are among the public schools ranked in U.S. News & World Report's 2026-27 Best High Schools rankings.

Cary-Grove High School, Crystal Lake Central High School, Crystal Lake South High School and Prairie Ridge High School are all part of Community High School District 155.

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Here's how the local schools ranked:

• Cary-Grove High School: No. 70 in Illinois; No. 1,532 nationally
• Prairie Ridge High School: No. 82 in Illinois; No. 1,870 nationally
• Crystal Lake Central High School: No. 136 in Illinois; No. 3,407 nationally
• Crystal Lake South High School: No. 119 in Illinois; No. 2,894 nationally

The rankings put the local schools among thousands of public high schools evaluated nationwide. U.S. News assessed about 27,000 eligible public high schools and ranked nearly 18,000 of them.

Northside College Preparatory High School in Chicago topped the Illinois rankings at No. 30 nationally, followed by Payton College Preparatory High School at No. 54 and Lane Technical High School at No. 80.

Other highly ranked suburban schools included Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora at No. 88 nationally, Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire at No. 208, Hinsdale Central High School at No. 231, Lake Forest High School at No. 277, Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville at No. 295 and New Trier Township High School in Winnetka at No. 324.

Vernon Hills High School ranked No. 14 in Illinois and No. 343 nationally, while Libertyville High School ranked No. 20 in Illinois and No. 462 nationally.

Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook ranked No. 378 nationally, Deerfield High School ranked No. 387, William Fremd High School in Palatine ranked No. 406, Barrington High School ranked No. 427 and John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights ranked No. 498.

The rankings are based on six performance measures, including student achievement on state-required assessments, graduation rates and college readiness. U.S. News also considers how well schools serve underserved students, participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, curriculum breadth and overall student outcomes.

The rankings use data from the 2023-24 school year and were produced with research firm RTI International.

Central Magnet School in Tennessee ranked No. 1 nationally, followed by Signature School in Indiana and Julia R. Masterman Secondary School in Pennsylvania.

The full rankings are available through U.S. News & World Report.