One Columbus-area high school shines as a top high school in the nation, according to the latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
The publication released its 2026-27 Best High Schools ranking Aug. 18, evaluating around 27,000 eligible schools around the state and ranking nearly 18,000 of them.
Bexley High School took eighth in the rankings. Other central Ohio schools to rank in the top 20 include Upper Arlington High School at No. 12, Olentangy High School at No. 14, Olentangy Liberty High School at No. 15 and Dublin Jerome High School at No. 20.
Bexley took a top spot because students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement (AP) coursework and exams, according to the report by U.S. News & World Report.
"The AP participation rate at Bexley
High School is 84%, and the 12th grade enrollment is 186 students. Additionally, 27% of students in the school are economically disadvantaged," the report reads.
The breakdown by state shows that Ohio is ranked in the middle of the pack, falling behind Kentucky (No. 21), but ahead of Illinois (No. 23).
Each year, U.S. News News & World Report gathers data from a handful of third-party sources like the U.S. Department of Education's Common Core of Data, statewide mathematics and reading assessment data and AP and International Baccalaureate (IB) exam data to assess schools' academic outcomes.
It uses those numbers in measuring the six variables that determine rank, including college readiness and state assessment performance and proficiency – given the greatest weight at 30% and 20%, respectively.
Columbus-area high school ranked in top 10
Bexley High School is the only central Ohio high school to rank in Ohio's top 10 high schools.
Here's the complete list:
- Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati Public Schools: No. 76 in the nation, up from 91 in 2025
- Madeira High School, Madeira City Schools, Cincinnati: No. 165, up from 311
- Chagrin Falls High School, Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools: No. 200, up from 664
- Mariemont High School, Mariemont City Schools, Cincinnati: No. 207, up from 359
- Rocky River High School, Rocky River City Schools: No. 228, down from 187
- Solon High School, Solon City School District: No. 237, down from 174
- Oakwood High School, Oakwood City School District, Dayton: No. 259, up from 338
- Bexley High School, Bexley City Schools: No 256, down from 152
- Hudson High School, Hudson City Schools: No. 310, down from 296
- Indian Hill High School, Indian Hill Exempted Village School District, Cincinnati: No. 351, down from 222
How U.S. News calculated the 2026-27 Best High School rankings
In coordination with North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm, U.S. News created its ranking by scoring schools across six indicators of quality, then computing a single zero to 100 score reflective of a school's performance across those metrics.
For transparency, each public school's directory page includes indicator ranks that explain how it performed nationally and within its state.
Here are the six school quality indicators and how they're weighted:
- College readiness (30%)
- College curriculum breadth (10%)
- State assessment proficiency (20%)
- State assessment performance (20%)
- Underserved student performance (10%)
- Graduation rate (10%)
Emily Rohozen, entertainment editor at The Columbus Dispatch, contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bexley High School ranks 8th in Ohio, per U.S. News & World Report
