2024 Best High Schools in Alabama

What High School Paths Does Alabama Provide?

Alabama has 588 high schools, a number that is 21% higher than the average state in the nation. These schools are spread out throughout the state, and its average grade is a B–, right in line with the national average. In total, 66% of Alabama's high schools are public, and the majority of those (96%) are traditional public schools. Of those, 234 exceed the national average in terms of quality, representing 63% of the traditional public schools in the state.

Diving deeper into public high school alternatives, there are also two charter schools in Alabama. Unfortunately, neither of them exceed the national average in terms of quality. As for magnet schools, there are 13 in total and 7 of them have higher grades than the national average (54%).

Alabama also has 191 private high schools (32% of all schools), making it the 7th most populous state in terms of private school availability. The median grade of these private schools is B+ and 61% of them exceed the national average. About 73% of private high schools in Alabama are religiously affiliated, led primarily by Christian schools which total 126. The state ranks second for most religious schools per capita, so there's plenty of religious influence in its school options. There are also two all-boys schools in Alabama, which is 76% less than the typical state (after normalizing for population size). There's actually no all-girls option in the state.

Finally, many of the high schools are also beginning to increase their online offerings, but as of now just 9 are offered online (just 2% of all schools). This actually ranks Alabama in the 22nd position in terms of online schools per capita vs. the typical state (it's above the average by 15%).