The Best Schools in America's 50 Largest Cities

The Milwaukee area’s top school is the Brookfield Academy — a private pre-K through 12th grade institution. The school earned an A+ overall grade from educational data platform Niche as well as top marks for its academics and college prep.

Brookfield Academy has an enrollment of 842 and a student-to-teacher ratio of 8:1 — less than half the nationwide ratio of 17:1. This allows the students to receive more individualized attention, which can benefit their academic performance. The school has a 100% graduation rate and average SAT and ACT scores well above average.

Albuquerque Academy ranks as the top school in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area. The grade 6-12 school earned an A+ overall grade from school data platform Niche as well as top marks for its academics, teachers, clubs and activities, sports, and college prep.

A private school with an annual tuition of just over $25,000, Albuquerque Academy has a 100% graduation rate, and its students report average SAT scores of 1380 and ACT scores of 31 — both well above the average SAT score of 1058 and ACT score of 20.

The Tucson, Arizona, area’s top school is BASIS Oro Valley — a public charter school that accepts students in sixth through 12th grades. The school earned an A+ grade overall from Niche as well as top scores for its academics, teachers, health and safety, and college prep.

BASIS Oro Valley is one of the very few public schools to rank as the top institution in a major metro area. The top schools tend to be private. The school has a very low student-to-teacher ratio of 6:1, and its students have proficiency rates of 93% in both math and reading.

The Fresno, California, area’s top school is University High School — a public charter high school serving students from grades 9-12. It is one of very few public schools to rank on this list. The school has a 95% graduation rate, and 87% of students are proficient in math and 95% are proficient in reading.

University High School is located on the campus of Fresno State University and has an enrollment of nearly 500. The school earned an overall A+ grade from school data platform Niche as well as A+ grades for its academics, teachers, health and safety, and college prep.

The Sacramento, California, area’s top school is Sacramento Country Day School. The private school educates students from pre-K through 12th grade. The school earned an overall A+ grade from school data platform Niche as well as top marks for its academics and college prep.

Sacramento Country Day School has a low student-to-teacher ratio, at 8:1. This allows students to get more personalized attention, and allows teachers to better help struggling students. The school has a 100% graduation rate.