A state-by-state breakdown of the 2016 Best High Schools rankings shows that Maryland is the leading performer for the second year in a row.
This year, 28.9 percent of Maryland’s eligible schools earned gold and silver medals from U.S. News. Connecticut came in second with 24.9 percent, and California came in third with 23.8 percent.
The gold and silver awards reflect which schools are most successfully preparing students for college, based on students participating in and achieving passing scores on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests. For a school to be eligible for a gold or silver medal, its students must also do well on the appropriate statewide tests and graduate at high rates, as explained in the rankings methodology.
See the [full 2016 Best High Schools rankings.]
When it comes to the total number of gold medal schools, California had the most — 84 — followed by Texas with 61 and New York with 58.
Only 36 states and the District of Columbia had at least one school that earned a gold medal, and four of those had only one such school within their borders. All states except South Dakota earned at least one gold or silver medal.
South Dakota’s schools were not eligible for gold or silver medals because the state did not give U.S. News permission to use its schools’ Advanced Placement data in the rankings. However, 37.1 percent of South Dakota’s schools won bronze medals based on their performance on state tests and their graduation rates.
Bronze medals did not count in this state-by-state analysis.
| State rank* | State | Number of eligible high schools** | Total number of gold medal schools | Percent of schools with gold medals | Total number of silver medal schools | Percent of schools with silver medals | Total number of gold and silver medals | Percent of schools with gold and silver medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MD | 232 | 19 | 8.2% | 48 | 20.7% | 67 | 28.9% |
| 2 | CT | 193 | 11 | 5.7% | 37 | 19.2% | 48 | 24.9% |
| 3 | CA | 2,099 | 84 | 4% | 415 | 19.8% | 499 | 23.8% |
| 4 | FL | 696 | 33 | 4.7% | 116 | 16.7% | 149 | 21.4% |
| 5 | MA | 353 | 22 | 6.2% | 53 | 15% | 75 | 21.2% |
| 6 | DC | 36 | 1 | 2.8% | 6 | 16.7% | 7 | 19.4% |
| 7 | ME | 88 | 4 | 4.5% | 13 | 14.8% | 17 | 19.3% |
| 8 | UT | 137 | 1 | 0.7% | 25 | 18.2% | 26 | 19% |
| 9 | RI | 56 | 2 | 3.6% | 8 | 14.3% | 10 | 17.9% |
| 10 | NY | 1,262 | 58 | 4.6% | 167 | 13.2% | 225 | 17.8% |
| 11 | OH | 879 | 18 | 2% | 137 | 15.6% | 155 | 17.6% |
| 12 | VT | 53 | 2 | 3.8% | 7 | 13.2% | 9 | 17% |
| 12 | VA | 324 | 19 | 5.9% | 36 | 11.1% | 55 | 17% |
| 14 | NH | 85 | 0 | 0% | 14 | 16.5% | 14 | 16.5% |
| 15 | NJ | 410 | 31 | 7.6% | 36 | 8.8% | 67 | 16.3% |
| 16 | DE | 37 | 2 | 5.4% | 4 | 10.8% | 6 | 16.2% |
| 17 | WI | 461 | 5 | 1.1% | 64 | 13.9% | 69 | 15% |
| 18 | IL | 670 | 15 | 2.2% | 82 | 12.2% | 97 | 14.5% |
| 19 | WA | 463 | 6 | 1.3% | 59 | 12.7% | 65 | 14% |
| 20 | NV | 109 | 0 | 0% | 15 | 13.8% | 15 | 13.8% |
| 21 | CO | 375 | 14 | 3.7% | 35 | 9.3% | 49 | 13.1% |
| 21 | GA | 443 | 15 | 3.4% | 43 | 9.7% | 58 | 13.1% |
| 23 | KY | 269 | 5 | 1.9% | 29 | 10.8% | 34 | 12.6% |
| 23 | PA | 676 | 6 | 0.9% | 79 | 11.7% | 85 | 12.6% |
| 25 | IN | 410 | 3 | 0.7% | 46 | 11.2% | 49 | 12% |
| 25 | OR | 292 | 3 | 1% | 32 | 11% | 35 | 12% |
| 27 | WV | 42 | 0 | 0% | 5 | 11.9% | 5 | 11.9% |
| 28 | MI | 847 | 7 | 0.8% | 93 | 11% | 100 | 11.8% |
| 28 | TX | 1,725 | 61 | 3.5% | 143 | 8.3% | 204 | 11.8% |
| 30 | AZ | 458 | 8 | 1.7% | 45 | 9.8% | 53 | 11.6% |
| 30 | OK | 86 | 0 | 0% | 10 | 11.6% | 10 | 11.6% |
| 32 | AK | 110 | 0 | 0% | 12 | 10.9% | 12 | 10.9% |
| 32 | SC | 221 | 2 | 0.9% | 22 | 10% | 24 | 10.9% |
| 34 | MN | 530 | 7 | 1.3% | 49 | 9.2% | 56 | 10.6% |
| 35 | AR | 282 | 1 | 0.4% | 28 | 9.9% | 29 | 10.3% |
| 36 | HI | 58 | 0 | 0% | 5 | 8.6% | 5 | 8.6% |
| 37 | AL | 352 | 2 | 0.6% | 27 | 7.7% | 29 | 8.2% |
| 38 | NC | 575 | 15 | 2.6% | 29 | 5% | 44 | 7.7% |
| 39 | TN | 358 | 6 | 1.7% | 21 | 5.9% | 27 | 7.5% |
| 40 | NM | 185 | 3 | 1.6% | 10 | 5.4% | 13 | 7% |
| 41 | WY | 59 | 0 | 0% | 4 | 6.8% | 4 | 6.8% |
| 42 | MT | 118 | 1 | 0.8% | 6 | 5.1% | 7 | 5.9% |
| 43 | ID | 163 | 0 | 0% | 9 | 5.5% | 9 | 5.5% |
| 44 | MO | 508 | 4 | 0.8% | 15 | 3% | 19 | 3.7% |
| 45 | IA | 335 | 0 | 0% | 11 | 3.3% | 11 | 3.3% |
| 46 | KS | 314 | 0 | 0% | 10 | 3.2% | 10 | 3.2% |
| 47 | LA | 308 | 4 | 1.3% | 5 | 1.6% | 9 | 2.9% |
| 48 | MS | 238 | 0 | 0% | 4 | 1.7% | 4 | 1.7% |
| 48 | ND | 118 | 0 | 0% | 2 | 1.7% | 2 | 1.7% |
| 50 | NE | 236 | 0 | 0% | 2 | 0.8% | 2 | 0.8% |
| 51 | SD | 140 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
*Rank determined by total percentage of schools in the analysis that earned silver or gold medals. **Number of schools that had a valid state performance index (used in Step 1 of the methodology), regardless of whether they had a valid College Readiness Index.
More from U.S. News
Best High Schools How Rankings Calculated
Demographic Breakdown of the 2016 Best High Schools
View the 2016 Best High Schools
How States Compare in the 2016 Best High Schools Rankings originally appeared on usnews.com
