Parents want the best for their children, including the best school experience. This, of course, includes getting good grades and performing well on state and college entry exams, but that is not all.
Students also benefit from a positive school culture, participating in extracurricular activities, having individualized attention from teachers and counselors, and learning in a diverse environment.
Though there are hundreds of excellent schools across the country, each major city and metropolitan area has one school that stands out as the best in its area.
The top school in the Boston area is the Phillips Academy. Located in Andover in Massachusetts’ northeastern corner, Phillips Academy is a private boarding school for students in ninth-12th grades. According to school data platform Niche, Phillips Academy is not just the top school in the Boston area, but it ranks as the best private high school in America.
The school received an A+ overall grade as well as top marks for its academics, teachers, sports, clubs and activities, and college prep. Its 5:1 student-to-teacher ratio is well below that of the typical school, allowing students to get more individualized attention. Its students reported an average SAT score of 1470 out of 1600, compared to an average of 1058 for all students.
To determine the best schools by city, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2022 K-12 School & District Rankings from Niche, a platform for education data. The Niche ranking is based on academic and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as reviews submitted to Niche. City boundaries are based on Census Bureau definitions for places. We identified the best school in every city for the 50 largest U.S. cities based on five-year population data from the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.
| Area | School | Grades offered | Student-to-teacher ratio | Students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City Area | Trinity School | K-12 | 6:1 | 1,001 |
| Los Angeles Area | Harvard-Westlake School | 7-12 | 8:1 | 1,625 |
| Chicago Area | University of Chicago Laboratory Schools | PK, K-12 | 8:1 | 2,051 |
| Houston Area | St. John’s School | K-12 | 7:1 | 1,258 |
| Phoenix Area | Phoenix Country Day School | PK, K-12 | 7:1 | 750 |
| Philadelphia Area | Germantown Friends School | PK, K-12 | 6:1 | 1,070 |
| San Antonio Area | Keystone School | PK, K-12 | 8:1 | 495 |
| San Diego Area | The Bishop’s School | 6-12 | 8:1 | 800 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth Area | St. Mark’s School of Texas | 1-12 | 7:1 | 903 |
| San Jose, CA | The Harker School | PK, K-12 | 10:1 | 1,975 |
| Austin Area | St. Stephen’s Episcopal School | 6-12 | 6:1 | 696 |
| Jacksonville Area | Stanton College Preparatory | 9-12 | 19:1 | 1,575 |
| Columbus Area | The Columbus Academy | PK, K-12 | 8:1 | 1,085 |
| San Francisco Area | The Nueva School | PK, K-12 | 4:1 | 605 |
| Fort Worth, TX | Trinity Valley School | PK, K-12 | 9:1 | 1,017 |
| Indianapolis Area | Park Tudor School | PK, K-12 | 7:1 | 950 |
| Charlotte Area | Providence Day School | PK, K-12 | 11:1 | 1,788 |
| Seattle Area | Lakeside School | 5-12 | 9:1 | 838 |
| Denver Area | Kent Denver School | 6-12 | 8:1 | 740 |
| Washington, D.C. Area | Georgetown Day School | PK, K-12 | 6:1 | 1,075 |
| Boston Area | Phillips Academy | 9-12 | 5:1 | 1,146 |
| El Paso Area | Radford School | PK, K-12 | 9:1 | 221 |
| Detroit Area | Cranbrook Schools | PK, K-12 | 7:1 | 1,659 |
| Nashville Area | University School of Nashville | K-12 | 9:1 | 1,071 |
| Memphis Area | St. Mary’s Episcopal School | PK, K-12 | 8:1 | 827 |
| Portland Area | Catlin Gabel School | PK, K-12 | 9:1 | 779 |
| Oklahoma City Area | Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics | 11-12 | 6:1 | 150 |
| Las Vegas Area | The Meadows School | PK, K-12 | 9:1 | 910 |
| Louisville Area | DuPont Manual High School | 9-12 | N/A | N/A |
| Baltimore Area | The Bryn Mawr School | PK, K-12 | 6:1 | 705 |
| Milwaukee Area | Brookfield Academy | PK, K-12 | 8:1 | 842 |
| Albuquerque Area | Albuquerque Academy | 6-12 | 8:1 | 1,163 |
| Tucson Area | BASIS Oro Valley | 6-12 | 6:1 | 626 |
| Fresno Area | University High School | 9-12 | 25:1 | 477 |
| Sacramento Area | Sacramento Country Day School | PK, K-12 | 8:1 | 507 |
| Mesa, AZ | BASIS Mesa | K-12 | 28:1 | 823 |
| Atlanta Area | The Westminster Schools | K-12 | 6:1 | 1,870 |
| Kansas City Area | The Pembroke Hill School | PK, K-12 | 8:1 | 1,177 |
| Omaha Area | Brownell Talbot School | PK, K-12 | 9:1 | 441 |
| Long Beach, CA | California Academy of Mathematics & Science | 9-12 | 28:1 | 659 |
| Colorado Springs Area | Fountain Valley School | 9-12 | 7:1 | 241 |
| Raleigh Area | North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics | 11-12 | 7:1 | 680 |
| Miami Area | Ransom Everglades School | 6-12 | 7:1 | 1,130 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | Cape Henry Collegiate | PK, K-12 | 11:1 | 949 |
| Oakland, CA | The College Preparatory School | 9-12 | 7:1 | 373 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul Area | Mounds Park Academy | PK, K-12 | 7:1 | 562 |
| Tulsa Area | Holland Hall | PK, K-12 | 7:1 | 1,009 |
| Arlington, TX | The Oakridge School | PK, K-12 | 9:1 | 768 |
| New Orleans Area | Benjamin Franklin High School | 9-12 | 20:1 | 997 |
| Wichita, KS | Wichita Collegiate School | PK, K-12 | 9:1 | 846 |
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