Four Chicago Public Schools – CPS high schools have been ranked among the 100 best public high schools in the United States in the newly released 2026–2027 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
The highest-ranked Chicago school this year is Northside College Preparatory High School, which placed 30th nationally and first in Illinois. Northside moved up ten positions from last year, when it ranked 40th in the country.
Three other CPS schools also made the national top 100: 
- Walter Payton College Preparatory High School – No. 54
- Lane Technical College Preparatory High School – No. 80
- Jones College Preparatory High School – No. 99
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School narrowly missed the top 100, ranking 104th nationally.
The results represent a change from last year’s rankings, when three Chicago public high schools were among the nation’s top 100. In the 2025–2026 rankings, Walter Payton was No. 32 nationally, Northside was No. 40 and Lane Tech was No. 72. Whitney Young ranked 104th, while Jones College Prep was No. 106.
This year, Northside overtook Walter Payton as the highest-ranked public high school in both Chicago and Illinois. Jones also moved back into the national top 100.
Chicago Public Schools have traditionally dominated the top of the Illinois rankings. This year, however, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy – IMSA in Aurora broke into the state’s top five, ranking fourth in Illinois and 88th nationally.
How Are the Schools Ranked?
U.S. News & World Report evaluates public high schools using six indicators. College readiness carries the greatest weight at 30 percent, while performance and proficiency on state assessments each account for 20 percent. Curriculum breadth, graduation rates and the performance of underserved students are also included in the methodology.
For the 2026–2027 rankings, nearly 18,000 public high schools were ranked out of more than 27,000 schools reviewed across the United States. The rankings were produced in cooperation with RTI International, a nonprofit research organization.
