Novi High School and Northville High School both cracked the top 3% of public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2026-27 Best High Schools rankings released Tuesday, Aug. 18.
Novi High placed No. 472 nationally and No. 12 in Michigan. Northville High came in at No. 507 nationally and No. 13 in the state. Both schools landed among nearly 18,000 ranked out of roughly 27,000 eligible public high schools evaluated.
The rankings arrive less than two weeks before Northville's first day of school on Monday, Aug. 31, giving families a benchmark before classes start.
What the numbers measure
The rankings rest on six weighted factors, developed with research firm RTI International using 2023-24 school year data:
- College readiness (30%): proportion of 12th graders who took and earned qualifying scores on AP or IB exams
- State assessment proficiency (20%)
- State assessment performance (20%)
- Underserved student performance (10%)
- Graduation rate (10%)
- College curriculum breadth (10%)
College readiness carries the most weight. Both local schools post strong AP numbers. Novi High's AP participation rate is 68% among its 570 seniors, according to the school's U.S. News profile. Northville High's rate is 63% among 589 seniors, per its profile page. Novi was also named to the College Board's 2025 AP School Honor Roll earlier this year.
Graduation rates are similarly high: 97% at Novi (total enrollment 2,137) and 98% at Northville (total enrollment 2,441), according to MLive's reporting on the rankings.
State and national context
Michigan placed just three schools in the national top 100 this cycle, down from four last year. International Academy in Bloomfield Hills led the state at No. 12 nationally. Closer to home, Troy High School (No. 401, No. 9 in Michigan) and Rochester Adams High School (No. 400, No. 8 in Michigan) finished just ahead of Novi and Northville in the state list.
LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News, said in the rankings announcement that the rankings are meant to give families data and transparency to make the best educational choices for their students.
Both schools' low percentages of economically disadvantaged students (8% at Novi, 5% at Northville) shape how the underserved-student factor plays into their scores. The rankings reflect a single year of data.
Families can explore full school-by-school breakdowns and methodology details on the U.S. News website.
