These are the best Pittsburgh-area high schools, according to U.S. News and World Report
A new ranking from U.S. News and World Report breaks down the best public high schools in the Pittsburgh area.
The list, released this week, goes into detail to figure out the best public high schools in Pennsylvania, including western Pennsylvania. More than 24,000 public schools in America were evaluated for the list and nearly 18,000 were ranked.
More than 150 public high schools from the Pittsburgh metro area, as designated by U.S. News and World Report, made the cut. Mt. Lebanon High School earned the top spot in the Pittsburgh metro. It was ranked No. 433 nationally.
Below is a list of the top 15 public schools in the Pittsburgh area and statewide, according to U.S. News and World Report.
Top 15 public high schools in the Pittsburgh area
- Mt. Lebanon High School
- Pine-Richland High School
- Peters Township High School
- Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12
- South Fayette High School
- Upper St. Clair High School
- Fox Chapel Area High School
- North Allegheny Senior High School
- Quaker Valley High School
- Hampton High School
- Neshannock Senior High School
- Freeport Area Senior High School
- Thomas Jefferson High School
- West Allegheny Senior High School
- Franklin Regional Senior High School
In the national rankings, Mt. Lebanon, Pine-Richland and Peters Township high schools slotted in at No. 433, No. 455 and No. 465, respectively. No other school in the Pittsburgh-area rankings made the top 600 nationally.
Top 15 public high schools in Pennsylvania
- Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School
- Downingtown STEM Academy
- Central High School
- New Hope-Solebury High School
- Unionville High School
- Radnor High School
- Mt. Lebanon High School
- Pine-Richland High School
- Peters Township High School
- Conestoga High School
- Lower Merion High School
- Harriton High School
- Strath Haven High School
- Central Bucks High School East
- Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12
Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School came in at No. 8 in the national rankings, while Downingtown STEM Academy was ranked 22nd nationally. No other Pennsylvania school was ranked in the top 200 nationally.
U.S. News and World Report explains methodology
U.S. News and World Report said its rankings were determined by six weighted indicators of school quality, which were then categorized into a score between 0-100 for each school's performance across the metrics.
The six weighted indicators were: college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance, underserved student performance and graduation rate.
The rankings only considered public, charter and magnet schools that had a 12th-grade enrollment of 15 students or more. U.S. News and World Report said private high schools were not ranked "because of limitations in publicly available data."
More Pittsburgh-area high school rankings
U.S. News and World Report's list comes on the heels of Niche's publication of its 2025 Best Schools in Pennsylvania rankings. Private and public schools from southwestern Pennsylvania were well represented.
