Education · New Jersey

The 50 Best High Schools in New Jersey

Strong towns. Stronger schools. Only one takes the top spot.

Fiftyfolio · 2026-10-12 · Every entry verified open and in the town listed

The 50 Best High Schools in New Jersey — the full Top 50 ranking graphic

New Jersey's school bragging rights run deep — selective county magnet academies, powerhouse suburban districts, and a handful of private schools that hold their own against both. We scored the candidates on state-reported student outcomes (50%), U.S. News rankings (25%), Niche grades (15%), and GreatSchools ratings (10%), then ranked the composite.

Then every school on the draft list went through the existence gate: checked against NCES and New Jersey Department of Education records to confirm it is real, open, correctly named, and in the town listed. All 50 passed. The pass did catch one label worth fixing before publication — Freehold Township High School sits in Freehold Township, a different municipality from Freehold Borough, which has its own separate high school — so the town on this list is the precise one.

The full Top 50

1Bergen County Academies
Hackensack

2Princeton High School
Princeton

3Livingston High School
Livingston

4Millburn High School
Millburn

5WW-P High School North
Plainsboro

6WW-P High School South
West Windsor

7Ridge High School
Basking Ridge

8Northern Highlands Regional
Allendale

9The Pingry School
Basking Ridge

10Delbarton School
Morristown

11Montclair High School
Montclair

12Summit High School
Summit

13Chatham High School
Chatham

14Newark Academy
Livingston

15Lawrenceville School
Lawrenceville

16Moorestown High School
Moorestown

17Haddonfield Memorial HS
Haddonfield

18Tenafly High School
Tenafly

19Ridgewood High School
Ridgewood

20Rumson-Fair Haven Regional
Rumson

21Princeton Day School
Princeton

22Glen Rock High School
Glen Rock

23Mountain Lakes High School
Mountain Lakes

24Cresskill High School
Cresskill

25Westfield High School
Westfield

26Madison High School
Madison

27Bernards High School
Bernardsville

28Holmdel High School
Holmdel

29Montgomery High School
Skillman

30Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS
Scotch Plains

31Northern Valley Demarest
Demarest

32Pascack Valley High School
Hillsdale

33Verona High School
Verona

34Dwight-Englewood School
Englewood

35Sparta High School
Sparta

36Hunterdon Central Regional
Flemington

37Mainland Regional HS
Linwood

38Ocean City High School
Ocean City

39Clearview Regional HS
Mullica Hill

40Kingsway Regional HS
Woolwich Twp.

41Cherokee High School
Marlton

42Shawnee High School
Medford

43Ramapo High School
Franklin Lakes

44Indian Hills High School
Oakland

45Colts Neck High School
Colts Neck

46Freehold Township HS
Freehold Twp.

47Bridgewater-Raritan HS
Bridgewater

48West Morris Mendham HS
Mendham

49Voorhees High School
Glen Gardner

50Hightstown High School
Hightstown

How we rank

Ranked on academics, college readiness, graduation outcomes, and student & parent reviews — 2026 composite.

Before any scoring, every candidate passes our existence gate: confirmed open, operating at the location listed, and showing recent activity. Anything closed, moved, or mislabeled is removed — no exceptions, no grandfathering. Weights and sources are published on our methodology page.

Notes & corrections

School facts move — districts consolidate, schools rename, new academies open. This list is re-verified against state and federal registries before it is posted anywhere, and spot-checked on a rolling basis. If you spot a change we haven't caught, email [email protected] and we will correct the record publicly. If it's listed, it exists.

Get the next ranking first. One email per list — the Top 50, the near-misses, and what we cut.

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