These School Districts Have The Best Teachers In SoCal: New Report

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — The teachers in one Southern California school district were ranked as the best in California in Niche's 2025 Best Schools and Districts rankings compiled this week.

Niche provides profiles, reviews, ratings, and personalized recommendations for K-12 schools, colleges, universities, cities, and towns.

The La Canada Unified School District in the Los Angeles area came out on top among 750 Golden State school districts that earned a mention in Niche's ranking of more than 11,000 school districts nationwide.

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The rankings were based on student and parent ratings of teachers, teacher salaries, teacher absenteeism, teacher tenure, student-teacher ratio, and the Niche Academics Grade for the district. Read more on how this ranking was calculated.

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A total of 77 California districts earned an A+ for their teacher rosters, but not every one of those scored the highest marks for academics. A district's grade for academics was, however, weighted most highly among all the factors in consideration for the teachers score. More information on how Niche calculated their ratings can be found here.

The best teachers in America in 2025 are working in the Mariemont City Schools, in Cincinnati, Ohio, according to Niche. Rye City School teachers, in New York's nearby Westchester County, came in second.

These are the school districts with the best teachers in Southern California, with their state ranking in parenthesis, according to the report. Each of these districts received an A+ score for its teachers.

• La Canada Unified School District (No. 1)
• South Pasadena Unified School District (No. 6)
• Del Mar Union Elementary School District (No. 7)
• San Marino Unified School District (No. 8)
• San Dieguito Union High School District (No. 10)
• Redondo Beach Unified School District (No. 11)
• Wiseburn Unified School District (No. 12)
• Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (No. 13)
• Beverly Hills Unified School District (No. 14)
• Coronado Unified School District (No. 16)
• Cardiff Elementary School District (No. 17)
• Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (No. 18)
• Solana Beach Elementary School District (No. 20)
• Encinitas Union Elementary School District (No. 22)
• Arcadia Unified School District (No. 24)
• Laguna Beach Unified School District (No. 25)
• Poway Unified School District (No. 29)
• Oak Park Unified School District (No. 30)
• Whittier Union High School District (No. 31)
• El Segundo Unified School District (No. 34)
• William S. Hart Union High School District (No. 36)
• Irvine Unified School District (No. 37)
• Conejo Valley Unified School District (No. 40)
• Capistrano Unified School District (No. 41)
• Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (No. 42)
• Las Virgenes Unified School District (No. 43)
• Rancho Santa Fe Elementary School District (No. 47)
• Los Alamitos Unified School District (No. 49)
• Bear Valley Unified School District (No. 53)
• Garden Grove Unified School District (No. 58)
• Heber Elementary School District (No. 59)
• Carlsbad Unified School District (No. 60)
• Central Union High School District (No. 61)
• Fullerton Joint Union High School District (No. 67)
• Grossmont Union High School District (No. 77)

View the full rankings here.

In addition to ranking No. 1 of 750 California schools, La Canada Unified School District ranked 12th among the Best School Districts in California and 39th among Best Places to Teach in California.

The district has 3,937 students in grades K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 24 to 1. According to state test scores, 83% of students are at least proficient in math and 87% in reading. In addition to earning the highest letter grade available for its teachers, the district also received an A+ for academics and college prep, as well as an A for administration.