U.S. News & World Report is out with its 2023 Best High Schools rankings and while most schools are making repeat appearances from past years, there are twice as many new names on this list as last year and many find themselves in new spots.

Montgomery’s Loveless Academic Magnet Program landed the top spot as it has the last three years, followed by Mountain Brook High School and Homewood High School, both of which climbed from last year.

“Having access to a strong high school program is paramount for students as they face an ever-changing world,” says Liana Loewus, managing editor of education at U.S. News. “Making data on our high schools available helps parents ensure their child is in the educational environment that best sets them up to thrive.”

U.S. News said its rankings were based primarily on test scores for math, reading and science. They also looked at underserved student performance, focusing on students who are Black, Hispanic or from low-income households; college readiness, which measures participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams; curriculum breadth and graduation rates.

U.S. News ranked all of Alabama’s public high schools. Click here to view the full list.

National Rankings

In addition to overall rankings, U.S. News ranked top STEM, charter and magnet schools nationwide.

Montgomery’s LAMP, a magnet school with selective admission requirements, ranked 15th in the country overall, the only Alabama high school to crack the top 100 nationwide.

The top high school in the country is The Early College at Guilford in Greensboro, North Carolina.

No Alabama school made the top 100 of STEM or charter schools. Mountain Brook High School, however, was ranked 103rd in STEM schools.

Two schools were ranked in the top 100 of magnet programs nationally, with LAMP coming in at 7th. Huntsville’s New Century Technology High School is ranked 81st nationwide.

Click here to see all national lists.

Alabama’s Top 25 High Schools

Three Montgomery schools—all magnet schools—are once again in the top 25, the most of any Alabama school district.

Hoover City, Huntsville City, Madison City, Baldwin County and Shelby County each have two high schools in the top 25.

Alabama’s top 25 schools have a number of things in common:

• All but four of the schools were in the top 25 last year.
• Some of the schools new to the Top 25 made large jumps from last year. One was unranked, while another moved from number 70 to 25th.
• The percentages of students in poverty–as measured by the percentage of students whose families receive federal government assistance–ranges from 3% to 61%.
• Birmingham’s Ramsay High School is the sole federal Title I school in the top 25.
• Black students make up the majority in three of the top 25 schools, Hispanic or Latino students hold the majority in one, white students make up the majority of students in 19, and in two of the top 25 schools, no one race makes up the majority of the student body.
• The smallest high school on the list has 392 students and the largest has more than 2,800.
• Ten of the top 25 schools spent less than the state average of per-student funding ($10,683 for the 2021 fiscal year).
• Of the top 25 schools, 12 were located in cities, 6 were rural, 6 in the suburbs and one was listed as a town.

Here are Alabama’s top 25 high schools, counting down to number one. An asterisk (*) indicates the school is new to U.S. News’ top 25 ranking for 2022. Enrollment figures and spending are from the Alabama State Department of Education for the 2022-23 school year.

Rankings of all Alabama high schools can be found here.

#25 – Oxford High School, Oxford City Schools *

• Enrollment: 1,288
• Student poverty level: 61%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021):$11,516
• Rank in 2022: 70

#24 – Daphne High School, Baldwin County *

• Enrollment: 1,725
• Student poverty level: 40%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $11,448
• Rank in 2022: 40

#23 – Ramsay High School, Birmingham City Schools

• Enrollment: 660
• Student poverty level: 25%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $11,834
• Rank in 2022: 13

#22 – Gulf Shores High School, Gulf Shores City Schools *

• Enrollment: 799
• Student poverty level: 37%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $12,935
• Rank in 2022: Unranked

#21 – Helena High School, Shelby County

• Enrollment: 1,418
• Student poverty level: 28%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $8,990
• Rank in 2022: 19

#20 – Hartselle High School, Hartselle City Schools

• Enrollment: 1,031
• Student poverty level: 34%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $11,989
• Rank in 2022: 14

#19 – Fairhope High School, Baldwin County

• Enrollment: 1,611
• Student poverty level: 31%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $11,205
• Rank in 2022: 10

#18 – Russellville High School, Russellville City Schools

• Enrollment: 740
• Student poverty level: 48%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $12,199
• Rank in 2022: 22

#17 – Huntsville High School, Huntsville City Schools

• Enrollment: 1,826
• Student poverty level: 28%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $7,746
• Rank in 2022: 17

#16 – Booker T Washington Magnet High School, Montgomery Public Schools

• Enrollment: 392
• Student poverty level: 52%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $11,789
• Rank in 2022: 11

#15 – W.P. Davidson High School, Mobile County *

• Enrollment: 1,535
• Student poverty level: 30%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $8,757
• Rank in 2022: 26

#14 – Hoover High School, Hoover City Schools

• Enrollment: 2,841
• Student poverty level: 32%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $12,820
• Rank in 2022: 21

#13 – Arab High School, Arab City Schools

• Enrollment: 779
• Student poverty level: 40%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $10,933
• Rank in 2022: 12

#12 – Hewitt-Trussville High School, Trussville City Schools

• Enrollment: 1,573
• Student poverty level: 15%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $11,598
• Rank in 2022: 16

#11 – Bob Jones High School, Madison City Schools

• Enrollment: 1,920
• Student poverty level: 24%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $10,222
• Rank in 2022: 6

#10 – Auburn High School, Auburn City Schools

• Enrollment: 2,143
• Student poverty level: 27%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $10,516
• Rank in 2022: 15

#9 – Oak Mountain High School, Shelby County

• Enrollment: 1,561
• Student poverty level: 22%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $10,025
• Rank in 2022: 9

#8 – James Clemens High School, Madison City Schools

• Enrollment: 2,149
• Student poverty level: 21%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $10,036
• Rank in 2022: 7

#7 – Brewbaker Tech Magnet High School, Montgomery Public Schools

• Enrollment: 575
• Student poverty level: 21%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $9,042
• Rank in 2022: 20

#6 – Spain Park High School, Hoover City Schools

• Enrollment: 1,503
• Student poverty level: 28%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $13,794
• Rank in 2022: 8

#5 – Vestavia Hills High School, Vestavia Hills City Schools

• Enrollment: 1,578
• Student poverty level: 10%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $14,844
• Rank in 2022: 4

#4 – New Century Tech Demo High School, Huntsville City Schools

• Enrollment: 403
• Student poverty level: 13%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $8,230
• Rank in 2022: 2

#3 – Homewood High School, Homewood City Schools

• Enrollment: 1,330
• Student poverty level: 28%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021):$16,901
• Rank in 2022: 5

#2 – Mountain Brook High School, Mountain Brook City Schools

• Enrollment: 967
• Student poverty level: 3%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $18,563
• Rank in 2022: 3

#1- Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School, Montgomery Public Schools

• Enrollment: 464
• Student poverty level: 7%
• Total school-level spending per student (2021): $9,685
• Rank in 2022: 1