26 New Hampshire Public High Schools Ranked In The Top 25% In New U.S. News Data

CONCORD, NH — Slightly more than two dozen public high schools in New Hampshire are among the best in the country, according to new rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

In the 2024 Best High Schools list, New Hampshire ranks 13th among U.S. states and the District of Columbia, a drop from prior U.S. News rankings. The state was ninth in 2018. Historically, in both U.S. News and Niche rankings, New Hampshire has consistently ranked as a top five or top 10 state.

Among the 70 out of 93 high schools that were ranked, three were in the top 5 percent nationally, while 26 were in the top 25 percent. In 2016, 14 schools were ranked in the Top 5 percent nationally.

State-by-state performance is based solely on which states have the most significant proportion of schools in the Top 25 percent. Massachusetts again leads in the ranking, followed by Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and Florida. The top high schools have students who score exceptionally high on math, reading and science assessments, as well strong performance among under-served students. High school graduation rates and college readiness among graduates are also measured.

The Top 25 public high schools in New Hampshire are:

1. Academy for Science and Design Charter School in Nashua
2. Sunapee Senior High School in Sunapee
3. Hanover High School in Hanover
4. Lebanon High School in Lebanon
5. Windham High School in Windham
6. Hollis-Brookline High School in Hollis
7. Bedford High School in Bedford
8. Coe-Brown Academy in Northwood
9. Profile Senior High School Profile School District in Bethlehem
10. Newmarket Junior-Senior High School in Newmarket
11. Hopkinton High School in Contoocook
12. Exeter High School in Exeter
13. Oyster River High School in Durham
14. Moultonborough Academy in Moultonborough
15. Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth
16. Souhegan High School in Amherst
17. Conval Regional High School in Peterborough
18. Mascenic Regional High School in New Ipswich
19. Goffstown High School in Goffstown
20. Bow High School in Bow
21. Nashua High School South in Nashua
22. Virtual Learning Academy Charter School in Exeter
23. Winnacunnet High School in Hampton
24. Inter-Lakes High School in Meredith
25. Lin-Wood Public School in Lincoln

Other Patch schools outside the Top 25 included Nashua High School North, which was 27th; The Founders Academy Charter School in Manchester at 28th; Salem High School was 29th; Milford High School came in 32nd on the list; Londonderry High School was 37th; Merrimack High School came in 52nd on the list while Concord High School was 58th. Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook was 64th; the Granite State Arts Academy Charter School in Salem was 66th; and Manchester Central High School was 67th in the state.

The Academy for Science and Design Charter School was ranked 245th of all schools in the United States and 61st of all charter schools nationwide. It was also ranked first in New Hampshire in 2023.

U.S. News relied on past assessment data from the three prior ranking years.

Read more about the Best High Schools methodology.

The data shows some significant shifts among public high schools.

For example, Salem High School, five years ago, was ranked 41st in the state but is now higher. Windham was second in the state two years ago, while Hopkinton was fourth, but are now lower. Londonderry, however, was 48th five years ago and is now higher. Milford was also higher than it was five years ago. Goffstown that year was ranked fourth in the state. Hampton’s high school in 2018 was 10th.

Maine and Oklahoma were the only states that did not permit U.S. News to use Advanced Placement data in the rankings.

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