New Poll Ranks Best Public High Schools in America

More than 23,815 public high schools exist in the United States today, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Teens attend one of these tuition-free schools based on their geographical location, and they're taught curriculums guided by federal and state standards. The goal is preparing students for post-graduation careers or higher education.

Public high schools are usually ranked based on college acceptance rates, SAT and ACT scores, the availability of specialized courses, and extracurricular activities. But AcademicInfluence.com, a data-driven rankings site for higher education, compiled a list of top schools using another factor: the influence of each school's alumni and faculty in the real world.

"Ranking a high school by the success of its graduates looks beyond ACT and SAT test scores, measuring real-world impact instead," says Dr. Jed Macosko, academic director of AcademicInfluence.com and professor of physics at Wake Forest University.

To compile this information, AcademicInfluence.com used innovative artificial intelligence and machine-learning data technology. They gauged the influence of faculty and alumni based on how often they were mentioned online—and the authority of the websites making those citations.

The results might help parents and students looking to attend a new school district—or those who are simply curious where their school stands. "Attending an influential high school lays a wonderful foundation for life," says Macosko. "Graduates of these 50 public schools continue to build upon it. How gratifying for the faculty and staff of those schools to know they've made a difference!"

Here are the 50 finalists for AcademicInfluence.com's list of best public high schools in America:

1. Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, California)
2. Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles, California)
3. Balti School for the Arts (Balti, Maryland)
4. Beverly Hills High School (Beverly Hills, California)
5. Birmingham Community Charter High School (Los Angeles, California)
6. Brookline High School (Brookline, Massachusetts)
7. Brooklyn Technical High School (Brooklyn, New York)
8. Calabasas High School (Calabasas, California)
9. Cass Technical High School (Detroit, Michigan)
10. Columbia High School (Maplewood, New Jersey)
11. Crenshaw High School (Los Angeles, California)
12. DeWitt Clinton High School (The Bronx, New York)
13. Dr. Phillips High School (Orlando, Florida)
14. Edward R. Murrow High School (Brooklyn, New York)
15. Evanston Township High School (Evanston, Illinois)
16. Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (New York City, New York)
17. Grant High School (Los Angeles, California)
18. Hollywood High School (Los Angeles, California)
19. Hunter College High School (New York City, New York)
20. Laguna Beach High School (Laguna Beach, California)
21. Lamar High School (Houston, Texas)
22. Little Rock Central High School (Little Rock, Arkansas)
23. Long Beach Polytechnic High School (Long Beach, California)
24. Los Alamitos High School (Los Alamitos, California)
25. Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (Los Angeles, California)
26. Midwood High School (Brooklyn, New York)
27. Mira Costa High School (Manhattan Beach, California)
28. Montclair High School (Montclair, New Jersey)
29. Montgomery Blair High School (Silver Spring, Maryland)
30. New Trier High School (Winnetka, Illinois)
31. North Hollywood High School (Los Angeles, California)
32. Palisades Charter High School (Los Angeles, California)
33. Palo Alto High School (Palo Alto, California)
34. Permian High School (Odessa, Texas)
35. Plano East Senior High School (Plano, Texas)
36. Plano Senior High School (Plano, Texas)
37. Poway High School (Poway, California)
38. Princeton High School (Princeton, New Jersey)
39. Proviso East High School (Maywood, Illinois)
40. Redondo Union High School (Redondo Beach, California)
41. San Marino High School (San Marino, California)
42. Santa Monica High School (Santa Monica, California)
43. Simeon Career Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
44. Stuyvesant High School (New York City, New York)
45. The Bronx High School of Science (The Bronx, New York)
46. The Woodlands High School (Woodlands, Texas)
47. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Alexandria, Virginia)
48. Torrance High School (Torrance, California)
49. Van Nuys High School (Los Angeles, California)
50. Westlake High School (Austin, Texas)