Best School Districts in Los Angeles County (2026)

You're browsing Redfin on a Tuesday night. The listing says "top-rated school district." But top-rated by whom? Based on what?

We ranked every school district in Los Angeles County using our Scope Score — a weighted blend of exceeded rates, proficiency, growth trajectory, absenteeism, and suspension data from the 2025 CAASPP assessment. The default view shows All Levels (elementary, middle, and high school combined); use the tabs to drill into elementary or high school specifically. Here's what the data actually says.

The top 20 districts, ranked by Scope Score

#	District	Avg Score	Schools	Avg Exceeded	Growth	Absenteeism
1	La Canada Unified	Strong 83/100	4	62.6%	-0.7pp	5.0%
2	Manhattan Beach Unified	Strong 82/100	7	57.9%	+5.4pp	6.2%
3	San Marino Unified	Strong 81/100	4	61.0%	-0.8pp	3.5%
4	South Pasadena Unified	Strong 79/100	5	58.4%	-2.8pp	6.3%
5	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	Strong 75/100	15	53.8%	+3.2pp	9.5%
6	El Segundo Unified	Strong 74/100	4	45.8%	+6.5pp	8.4%
7	Walnut Valley Unified	Strong 71/100	14	49.0%	-1.8pp	6.7%
8	Beverly Hills Unified	Solid 66/100	4	43.9%	-3.2pp	14.1%
9	Redondo Beach Unified	Solid 65/100	12	41.6%	-3.0pp	8.3%
10	Newhall	Solid 63/100	10	36.5%	+3.5pp	10.5%
11	Saugus Union	Solid 63/100	14	37.9%	-3.1pp	6.1%
12	Arcadia Unified	Solid 63/100	12	40.0%	+0.7pp	8.0%
13	Torrance Unified	Solid 61/100	30	36.8%	-0.3pp	11.1%
14	Las Virgenes Unified	Solid 61/100	15	34.4%	+0.7pp	10.0%
15	Bonita Unified	Solid 61/100	13	37.6%	-4.8pp	14.9%
16	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	Solid 61/100	16	36.9%	+0.5pp	17.8%
17	Alhambra Unified	Solid 57/100	29	32.0%	+0.3pp	11.8%
18	Culver City Unified	Solid 57/100	8	33.7%	-4.2pp	16.9%
19	Temple City Unified	Solid 56/100	4	29.0%	-3.5pp	18.7%
20	ABC Unified	Solid 55/100	24	31.6%	-1.0pp	13.5%

#	District	Avg Score	Schools	Avg Exceeded	Growth	Absenteeism
1	Manhattan Beach Unified	Strong 85/100	5	62.8%	+6.8pp	4.1%
2	San Marino Unified	Strong 83/100	2	66.2%	+1.6pp	4.0%
3	La Canada Unified	Strong 82/100	3	62.0%	-0.7pp	4.2%
4	South Pasadena Unified	Strong 78/100	3	59.6%	-4.2pp	4.9%
5	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	Strong 76/100	10	56.3%	+4.5pp	8.4%
6	El Segundo Unified	Strong 75/100	2	48.0%	+6.6pp	8.1%
7	Beverly Hills Unified	Strong 70/100	2	51.4%	-5.9pp	11.4%
8	Redondo Beach Unified	Solid 70/100	8	48.5%	-2.3pp	7.0%
9	Walnut Valley Unified	Solid 69/100	9	48.5%	-2.8pp	6.6%
10	Arcadia Unified	Solid 66/100	6	46.5%	+0.3pp	3.3%
11	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	Solid 64/100	9	41.1%	+2.0pp	14.2%
12	Newhall	Solid 63/100	10	36.5%	+3.5pp	10.5%
13	Saugus Union	Solid 63/100	14	37.9%	-3.1pp	6.1%
14	Torrance Unified	Solid 63/100	17	39.1%	+1.3pp	9.1%
15	Bonita Unified	Solid 62/100	8	41.8%	-6.3pp	11.2%
16	Culver City Unified	Solid 62/100	5	41.1%	-4.2pp	9.6%
17	Las Virgenes Unified	Solid 62/100	9	37.5%	-1.3pp	8.5%
18	Temple City Unified	Solid 61/100	2	39.3%	-3.5pp	7.2%
19	Wiseburn Unified	Solid 57/100	3	29.4%	-5.2pp	7.1%
20	Monrovia Unified	Solid 56/100	5	27.2%	+2.3pp	14.4%

#	District	Avg Score	Schools	Avg Exceeded	Growth	Absenteeism
1	South Pasadena Unified	Strong 82/100	1	58.0%	+1.4pp	6.3%
2	San Marino Unified	Strong 80/100	1	61.8%	-5.6pp	3.2%
3	Walnut Valley Unified	Strong 77/100	3	52.3%	+1.4pp	4.4%
4	El Segundo Unified	Strong 74/100	1	44.1%	+6.2pp	4.0%
5	Manhattan Beach Unified	Strong 72/100	1	48.3%	-1.4pp	7.9%
6	Hermosa Beach City Elementary	Strong 70/100	1	40.3%	+10.8pp	9.8%
7	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	Solid 70/100	3	46.8%	-0.9pp	9.8%
8	Bonita Unified	Solid 68/100	2	37.3%	+1.2pp	10.2%
9	Bellflower Unified	Solid 67/100	1	27.7%	+6.2pp	7.7%
10	Arcadia Unified	Solid 63/100	4	38.6%	+1.6pp	10.2%
11	Alhambra Unified	Solid 62/100	13	33.9%	+7.1pp	12.1%
12	Torrance Unified	Solid 62/100	8	35.5%	-3.6pp	9.0%
13	Beverly Hills Unified	Solid 60/100	1	36.0%	+2.3pp	16.2%
14	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	Solid 60/100	4	33.5%	-2.6pp	13.9%
15	Las Virgenes Unified	Solid 59/100	4	31.7%	+5.2pp	10.9%
16	Redondo Beach Unified	Solid 58/100	2	36.1%	-5.9pp	8.4%
17	San Gabriel Unified	Solid 55/100	1	28.2%	+3.4pp	12.5%
18	Glendora Unified	Solid 55/100	2	29.4%	+0.7pp	10.2%
19	Wiseburn Unified	Solid 54/100	2	26.0%	+4.3pp	8.2%
20	Culver City Unified	Solid 52/100	1	28.4%	-4.2pp	8.9%

#	District	Avg Score	Schools	Avg Exceeded	Absenteeism
1	La Canada Unified	Strong 84/100	1	64.4%	7.4%
2	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	Strong 77/100	2	51.3%	14.5%
3	San Marino Unified	Strong 76/100	1	49.8%	2.7%
4	South Pasadena Unified	Strong 76/100	1	55.2%	10.7%
5	Manhattan Beach Unified	Strong 75/100	1	42.7%	15.1%
6	Walnut Valley Unified	Strong 73/100	2	46.6%	10.8%
7	El Segundo Unified	Strong 70/100	1	42.9%	13.3%
8	Hawthorne	Solid 67/100	1	37.6%	10.5%
9	Beverly Hills Unified	Solid 63/100	1	36.6%	17.4%
10	Alhambra Unified	Solid 62/100	3	31.9%	9.3%
11	Las Virgenes Unified	Solid 61/100	2	26.2%	15.0%
12	Lawndale Elementary	Solid 60/100	1	24.2%	14.8%
13	Keppel Union Elementary	Solid 58/100	1	26.5%	15.6%
14	ABC Unified	Solid 57/100	5	34.3%	22.8%
15	Torrance Unified	Solid 56/100	5	31.0%	21.3%
16	SBE - New West Charter	Solid 56/100	1	36.2%	14.8%
17	William S. Hart Union High	Solid 54/100	13	27.3%	23.5%
18	Lennox	Solid 54/100	2	19.3%	12.2%
19	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	Solid 53/100	3	29.2%	33.6%
20	Arcadia Unified	Solid 52/100	2	23.1%	17.9%

Data: 2025 CAASPP, CDE chronic absenteeism. Full methodology. Districts with fewer than 3 schools at a level are excluded.

Data: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024–25 and CDE Chronic Absenteeism. Live data — this table updates when scores change.

What surprised us

La Cañada takes the overall #1 — carried by the state's top high school

La Cañada Unified leads LA County with an 87 All Levels Scope Score across 4 schools. The reason: La Cañada High School scores 93 and ranks near the top of all California high schools. That single school pulls the all-levels average up significantly. On the elementary side, the story is more mixed: 85 with a slightly negative growth trajectory (−0.7pp) — kids arrive strong and the schools maintain that, but they're not clearly adding momentum grade-over-grade.

We wrote a deeper comparison of La Cañada vs. South Pasadena vs. Arcadia if you're weighing the San Gabriel Valley.

San Marino: still elite, now #2 overall

San Marino Unified sits at #2 overall (86/100) across 4 schools. It's the kind of district that never makes clickbait headlines but consistently delivers: 61% average exceeded rate, 3.5% chronic absenteeism (the lowest of any top-5 district), strong results from elementary through high school. Switch to the Elementary tab and San Marino actually takes the top spot at 86 — the best elementary performance in the county.

Manhattan Beach: the growth story

Manhattan Beach Unified ranks #3 overall (84/100). Its edge is elementary growth: 85 average across 5 elementary schools with +6.8 percentage points from grade 3 to grade 5 — the best growth trajectory of any top-10 district. Students are improving as they move through elementary school, not coasting on strong incoming talent.

South Pasadena: the quiet contender

South Pasadena Unified at 82 overall is one of the more underrated districts on this list — 5 schools, 58.4% exceeded rate, and a solid 84-scoring high school. Worth a look if the La Cañada price tag is daunting.

Palos Verdes: growth + scale

Fifteen schools, 78 overall, and +4.5pp elementary growth. Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified has one of the best combinations of scale and quality in the county. Individual schools here regularly score in the 80s and 90s.

El Segundo: the efficiency story

El Segundo Unified at 76 across 4 schools isn't the name most parents think of when they think "top LA County district." But the data shows strong proficiency across all levels, without the price tag of the beach cities or the SGV enclaves. Worth a look if you're searching south of the 105.

Santa Monica-Malibu: high spend, uneven results

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified scores 62 overall and has 17.9% chronic absenteeism — the highest of any top-20 district by a wide margin. That's nearly 1 in 5 students missing 10% or more of school days. The reasons behind high absenteeism can vary widely; this data point affects the Scope Score and is worth understanding in context.

What these districts spend — and what it buys

Per-pupil spending adds another dimension to this list. Using the most recent federal finance data (NCES, FY2023 current expenditures — excluding one-time capital costs). Note: Scope Scores below reflect current live data and may differ from scores at the time this spending data was collected.

District	Scope Score	Per Pupil Spending	Enrollment
La Cañada Unified	87	$16,758	3,877
San Marino Unified	86	$16,945	2,751
Manhattan Beach Unified	84	$18,039	5,895
El Segundo Unified	76	$13,614	3,508
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	78	$14,998	10,457
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	62	$24,954	8,820

The efficiency standout: El Segundo. At $13,614 per pupil it's the leanest top-10 district in the county — and it scores well above Santa Monica-Malibu, which spends nearly twice as much.

The flip side: Santa Monica-Malibu at $24,954 per student is the highest spender on this list by a wide margin. Its all-levels score of 62 is solid but not elite, and its 17.9% absenteeism rate drags down the climate component of the Scope Score. High spending doesn't automatically translate to high scores — how the money is spent, and the challenges a district faces, matter more than the raw number.

La Cañada and San Marino's efficiency is striking. Both top-2 districts spend below the state average of ~$17,500 per student. Community engagement and low absenteeism matter more than big budgets.

Spending data: NCES Annual Survey of School System Finances, FY2023. Current expenditures exclude capital outlays. Full methodology →

The elephant in the room: individual schools matter more than districts

Here's the honest caveat. District averages hide enormous variation. Some of the best schools in LA County are inside districts that don't make this list at all.

Overland Avenue Elementary in LAUSD — yes, that LAUSD — scores 90 with 70.4% exceeded. It would be the top school in La Cañada's elementary tier. But LAUSD as a district won't appear on any "best districts" ranking because its 500+ schools average out to a middling number.

The takeaway: Use this list as a starting point, not a final answer. Then search your actual zip code on SchoolScope and look at individual schools.

What this list doesn't capture

Our Scope Score measures test performance, growth, attendance, and discipline. It does not measure:

Teacher quality or experience
School culture and community feel
Arts, music, and enrichment programs
Class sizes within the school
How your specific kid would thrive there
Housing costs (Manhattan Beach and La Cañada are not the same budget)

Test scores are one lens. We say this often because it's true. A great school for your family might not be the highest-scoring one — but knowing the data helps you make that call with your eyes open.

Check your zip code

Don't just look at districts. The school down the street might surprise you.