Cold Spring Harbor tops Suffolk County in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-26 rankings of the state’s best high schools, with Harborfields High School, Half Hollow Hills West and Port Jefferson rounding out the county’s top four.
Cold Spring Harbor and Harborfields are the only Suffolk high schools that cracked New York’s top 50 in the U.S. News rankings released on Tuesday. Half Hollow Hills West is at 51 statewide, while Port Jefferson landed at 77.
For its latest Best High School rankings, U.S. News evaluated nearly 24,000 eligible public high schools nationwide, with about 18,000 earning a spot on the list. The study graded high schools on state exam performance, graduation rates, college readiness and student outcomes, including participation and success in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs.
“Students and families need data to help them make one of the most important decisions of their academic journey,” said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., managing editor for education at U.S. News. “Our Best High Schools rankings provide the insights to help them identify schools that will prepare students for college success.”
Here are the top 10 schools in Suffolk County:
Suffolk’s top 10 high schools
- Cold Spring Harbor
- Harborfields
- Half Hollow Hills West
- Port Jefferson
- Half Hollow Hills East
- Pierson Middle/High School (Sag Harbor)
- Smithtown West
- Sayville
- Ward Melville
- Mount Sinai
Westhampton Beach landed just outside the top 10 at No. 11.
Top 10 in New York state
New York City public schools dominated the statewide list, taking eight of the top 10 spots. Nassau County’s Jericho was the only Long Island school to crack the top 10. Ten Nassau high schools landed among the state’s top 50 high schools.
- Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
- High School Math Science and Engineering at CCNY
- Stuyvesant High School
- Staten Island Technical High School
- Bronx High School of Science
- High School of American Studies at Lehman College
- Brooklyn Latin School
- Brooklyn Technical High School
- Jericho Senior High School
- Edgemont Junior-Senior High School
National top 10
Here are the nation’s top 10 high schools, according to U.S. News:
- BASIS Tucson North (Arizona)
- Signature School (Indiana)
- Central Magnet School (Tennessee)
- Davidson Academy (Nevada)
- Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Virginia)
- Albuquerque Institute of Math and Science (New Mexico)
- Hass Hall Bentonville (Arkansas)
- Julia R. Masterman Secondary School (Pennsylvania)
- The School for the Talented and Gifted (Texas)
- Aiken Scholars Academy (South Carolina)
Top photo: Members of Half Hollow Hills West’s 2025 graduating class. Hills West is the second highest ranked Suffolk high school on U.S. News’ annual Best High Schools rankings.
