Lexington High School landed at No. 5 in Massachusetts and No. 167 nationally in U.S. News & World Report's 2026-27 Best High Schools rankings, released Tuesday, Aug. 18. Concord-Carlisle High School came in at No. 21 in the state and No. 503 nationally.

Both schools placed in the top 25 out of 352 ranked Massachusetts high schools, according to the U.S. News state rankings page.

The rankings, produced with research firm RTI International, draw on 2023-2024 school year data and evaluate schools across six weighted measures: college readiness (30%), state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance relative to demographics (20%), college curriculum breadth (10%), underserved student performance (10%) and graduation rate (10%).

College readiness carries the most weight. It measures the share of 12th graders who took and scored at least a 3 on an AP exam or a 4 on an IB exam. At Lexington High, 79% of students participated in AP coursework, according to the school's U.S. News profile. At Concord-Carlisle, that figure was 73%.

Lexington High's 12th-grade class numbered 592 students. Concord-Carlisle's was 311.

Massachusetts led all states, with 47% of its high schools placing in the national top quarter, according to a U.S. News press release. New Jersey followed at 44% and Maryland at 43%. LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News, said the rankings are designed to give families data and transparency to make informed school choices.

Rankings come amid $660M Lexington rebuild

The rankings arrive as Lexington prepares to replace its high school campus. Voters approved a $660 million rebuild in a special election on Dec. 8, 2025, with 62% support (5,283 to 3,276), according to the Boston Globe.

The current campus opened in the mid-1950s and houses roughly 2,400 students in a building designed for 1,800. "We've pretty much mined all the space out of this school," Principal Andrew Baker told the Globe in December 2025.

The new building, designed for 2,395 students, is expected to open for the 2029-2030 school year. Lexington taxpayers will cover approximately $533 million; the Massachusetts School Building Authority could contribute up to $121.7 million in grants. For a homeowner at the town's median assessed value of $1.4 million, the annual tax increase could range from less than $50 to about $1,800 during peak payment years.

Neither Lexington Public Schools nor the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District had commented publicly on the rankings as of Tuesday evening.

Construction on the new Lexington High is expected to have begun in mid-2026, with the replacement building slated to open in fall 2029.