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Searching for the best high school for your teen in San Luis Obispo County?
U.S. News and World Report recently released its list of the best high schools in SLO County for 2025-2026.
The media company graded schools on how well students did on math, reading and science state assessments, as well as college-level exams and graduation rates.
Coast Union High School in Cambria was No. 1 on the list.
The campus serves more than 150 students in ninth through 12th grades from the coastal communities of Cayucos, Cambria, San Simeon and southern Big Sur, according to the school’s website and the California Department of Education.
Here are the best high schools in San Luis Obispo County:
What are the top high schools in SLO County?
In its 2025-2026 list, U.S. News and World Report ranked these local high schools in the top nine:
- 1. Coast Union High School in Cambria
- 2. San Luis Obsipo High School in San Luis Obispo
- 3. Morro Bay High School in Morro Bay
- 4. Arroyo Grande High School in Arroyo Grande
- 5. Central Coast New Tech High School in Nipomo
- 6. Paso Robles High School in Paso Robles
- 7. Templeton High School in Templeton
- 8. Nipomo High School in Nipomo
- 9. Atascadero High School in Atascadero
Why is Coast Union the best high school in SLO County?
Coast Union High ranked No. 1 in the nation based on its excellent Advanced Placement coursework program, according to U.S. News and World Report.
According to U.S. News and World Report, 73% of students at the Cambria campus participate in AP coursework and exams.
About 97% of Coast Union High students graduate, the media company said.
Coast Union High was one of the first public high schools in the state to hand out Chromebooks to students on a 1-to-1 ratio, the school said on its website.
Coast Union is the 140th best high school in California, according to U.S. News and World Report.
How did US News and World Report come up with its rankings?
U.S. News and World Report looked at thousands of public schools across the nation to determine top performing education institutions.
The publication reviewed 24,000 schools and ranked 18,000 public schools in the country. Schools had to have 15 or more students in their 12th grade classes to qualify, the site said.
U.S. News and World Report scored public schools across six indicators of school quality, including graduation rate, AP participation and test-taking and math, reading and science proficiency.
“A great high school educates all of its students from different social and economic backgrounds, exposing them to challenging coursework on the path to graduation,” the media company said.
Private high schools across the nation were not ranked because of a lack of publicly available data, U.S. News and World Report said, but publicly funded charter and magnet schools were eligible for review.