More than 100 New Jersey schools ranked among the best in the U.S., according to U.S. News & World Report's 2018 rankings of best high schools in the country. The highest ranked New Jersey school on the list was 22nd (see full list below).



The 2018 best high school rankings were released on Wednesday and evaluate over 20,500 public high schools. U.S. News identified schools that best serve all students and assessed how prepared students are for college-level work. Schools are also recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals with gold indicating the greatest level of college readiness. Twenty-three New Jersey schools received a gold medal, 39 received a silver medal and 41 schools received a bronze medal.

While Arizona schools dominated in the overall rankings, compared to other states, New Jersey's performance was ranked 17th nationwide by U.S. News while Arizona was no. 28. Pennsylvania was 14th. The state-by-state performance rating was based on which states have the highest the highest proportion of schools with gold and silver medals. Based on this metric, Massachusetts was the leading performer, followed by California and Maryland.

"Top-ranked schools succeed in three main areas: exceeding expectations on state proficiency tests, offering challenging coursework and graduating their students," Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News, said in a press release. Here's how New Jersey's schools finished according to place and medal in the 2018 rankings (national rankings in parenthesis):

High Technology High School (22), Lincroft, Monmouth County Vocational School District, GOLD Bergen County Academies (43), Hackensack, Bergen County Vocational Technical Schools, GOLD Bergen County Technical High School - Teterboro (58), Teterboro, Bergen County Vocational Technical Schools, GOLD Biotechnology High School (66), Freehold, Monmouth County Vocational School District, GOLD Dr. Ronald E McNair High School (68), Jersey City, Jersey City Public Schools, GOLD Elizabeth High School (145), Elizabeth, Elizabeth Public Schools, GOLD Union County Magnet High School (171), Scotch Plains, Union County Vocational-Technical School District, GOLD Chatham High School (181), Chatham, The School District Of The Chathams, GOLD Princeton High School (230), Princeton, Princeton Public Schools, GOLD Academy for Information Technology (262), Scotch Plains, Union County Vocational-Technical School District, GOLD West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (264), West Windsor, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, GOLD Ridge High School (318), Basking Ridge, Bernards Township Public Schools, GOLD North Star Academy Charter School of Newark (346), Newark, North Star Academy Charter School Of Newark, GOLD Marine Academy of Science and Technology (349), Highlands, Monmouth County Vocational School District, GOLD Millburn High School (380), Millburn, Millburn Township Schools, GOLD Montgomery High School (388), Skillman, Montgomery Township School District, GOLD Highland Park High School (397), Highland Park, Highland Park Board Of Education, GOLD Academy for Allied Health Sciences (413), Scotch Plains, Union County Vocational-Technical School District, GOLD Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy (414), Elizabeth, Elizabeth Public Schools, GOLD West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North (420), Plainsboro, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, GOLD Summit Senior High School (437), Summit, Summit Public Schools, GOLD Academy of Allied Health and Science (452), Neptune, Monmouth County Vocational School District, GOLD Glen Ridge High School (460), Glen Ridge, Glen Ridge Public Schools, GOLD Ridgewood High School (577), Ridgewood, Ridgewood Public Schools, SILVER Haddonfield Memorial High School (597), Haddonfield, Haddonfield Board Of Education, SILVER Mountain Lakes High School (641), Mountain Lakes, Mountain Lakes Board Of Education, SILVER North Hunterdon High School (673), Annandale, North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, SILVER Bergenfield High School (707), Bergenfield, Bergenfield Borough School District, SILVER Westfield Senior High School (770), Westfield, Westfield Public Schools, SILVER Leonia High School (852), Leonia, Leonia Public Schools, SILVER John P. Stevens High School (882), Edison, Edison Township Public Schools, SILVER Mahwah High (901), Mahwah, Mahwah Township Public Schools, SILVER West Caldwell Tech (926), West Caldwell, Essex County Vocational Technical Schools, SILVER Kinnelon High School (941), Kinnelon, Kinnelon Board Of Education, SILVER High Tech High School (1063), N Bergen, Hudson County Schools Of Technology, SILVER Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School (1065), Scotch Plains, Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District, SILVER Point Pleasant Beach High School (1078), Point Pleasant Beach, Point Pleasant Beach Board Of Education, SILVER Ramsey High School (1119), Ramsey, Ramsey Public Schools, SILVER Bergen Arts and Sciences Charter School (1149), Garfield, Bergen Arts And Sciences Charter School, SILVER Hunterdon Central Regional High School (1181), Flemington, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, SILVER Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School (1293), Bridgewater, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District, SILVER Liberty High School (1341), Jersey City, Jersey City Public Schools, SILVER Parsippany High School (1356), Parsippany, Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools, SILVER Montclair High School (1449), Montclair, Montclair Public Schools, SILVER Cherry Hill High School East (1458), Cherry Hill, Cherry Hill Public Schools, SILVER Infinity Institute (1595), Jersey City, Jersey City Public Schools, SILVER Somerville High School (1613), Somerville, Somerville Public Schools, SILVER Union County Tech (1620), Scotch Plains, Union County Vocational-Technical School District, SILVER Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (1661), Manahawkin, Ocean County Vocational Technical School, SILVER Weehawken High School (1686), Weehawken, Weehawken Board Of Education, SILVER Communications High School (1702), Wall, Monmouth County Vocational School District, SILVER Fair Lawn High School (1717), Fair Lawn, Fair Lawn Public Schools, SILVER Mount Olive High School (1767), Flanders, Mount Olive Township School District, SILVER Dover High School (1774), Dover, Dover Public School District, SILVER Fort Lee High School (1791), Fort Lee, Fort Lee Public Schools, SILVER Science Park High School (1834), Newark, The Newark Public Schools, SILVER Monroe Township High School (2060), Monroe Township, Monroe Township Board Of Education, SILVER Matawan Regional High School (2066), Aberdeen, Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District, SILVER Bloomfield Tech (2395), Bloomfield, Essex County Vocational Technical Schools, SILVER East Orange STEM Academy High School (2431), East Orange, East Orange School District, SILVER Central Jersey College Prep Charter School (2617), Somerset, Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, SILVER Ridgefield Park Jr Sr High School (2638), Ridgefield Park, Ridgefield Park Township, SILVER Academy for Law and Public Safety, Butler, Morris County Vocational School District, BRONZE Academy for Mathematics Science and Engineering, Rockaway, Morris County Vocational School District, BRONZE Academy for Performing Arts, Scotch Plains, Union County Vocational-Technical School District, BRONZE Academy for Urban Leadership Charter School, Perth Amboy, Academy For Urban Leadership, BRONZE American History High School, Newark, The Newark Public Schools, BRONZE Applied Technology High School, Paramus, Bergen County Vocational Technical School District, BRONZE Arts High School, Newark, The Newark Public Schools, BRONZE Atlantic County Institute of Technology, Mays Landing, Atlantic County Vocational School District, BRONZE Bard Early College High School, Newark, The Newark Public Schools, BRONZE Bayonne High School, Bayonne, Bayonne Board Of Education, BRONZE Bogota Jr./Sr. High School, Bogota, Bogota Public Schools, BRONZE Camden County Technical School-Pennsauken, Pennsauken, Camden County Technical School, BRONZE Carteret High School, Carteret, Carteret Public Schools, BRONZE Cicely L. Tyson Community Middle/High School, East Orange, East Orange School District, BRONZE County Prep High School, Jersey City, Hudson County Schools Of Technology, BRONZE Dwight Morrow High School/Academies at Englewood, Englewood, Englewood Public School District, BRONZE Foundation Academy Charter School, Trenton, Foundation Academy Charter School, BRONZE Gloucester County Institute of Technology, Sewell, Gloucester County Vocational-Technical School District, BRONZE Hackensack High School, Hackensack, Hackensack City, BRONZE Hamilton North-Nottingham, Hamilton, Hamilton Township, BRONZE Hammonton High School, Hammonton, Hammonton School District, BRONZE Hc Computer Science and Software Engineering Academy, Frenchtown, Hunterdon County Vocational School District, BRONZE Health Science Academy, Trenton, Area Vocational Technical Schools Of Mercer County, BRONZE Jose Marti Freshman Academy, Union City, Union City School District, BRONZE Lodi High School, Lodi, Lodi Public Schools, BRONZE Manville High School, Manville, Manville Board Of Education, BRONZE Memorial High School, West New York, West New York Board Of Education, BRONZE Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health, Woodbridge, Middlesex County Vocational And Technical Schools, BRONZE Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies, Edison, Middlesex County Vocational And Technical Schools, BRONZE Middlesex County Vocational School Perth Amboy, Perth Amboy, Middlesex County Vocational And Technical Schools, BRONZE Morris County School of Technology, Denville, Morris County Vocational School District, BRONZE Newark Tech, Newark, Essex County Vocational Technical Schools, BRONZE North 13th St Tech, Newark, Essex County Vocational Technical Schools, BRONZE Passaic County Technical Institute, Wayne, Passaic County Vocational School District, BRONZE Roselle Park High School, Roselle Park, Roselle Park Board Of Education, BRONZE School of Health Science, Paterson, Paterson Public Schools, BRONZE Somerset County Vocational Technical High School, Bridgewater, Somerset County Vocational And Technical Schools, BRONZE Technology High School, Newark, The Newark Public Schools, BRONZE Union City High School, Union City, Union City School District, BRONZE Union County Teams Charter School, Plainfield, Union County Teams Charter School-High School/College La, BRONZE West Morris Central High School, Chester, West Morris Regional High School District, BRONZE Bronze medal schools are not ranked by U.S. News.

To determine the rankings, U.S. News teamed up with the social science research firm RTI International. A variety of data sources, including the Common Core of Data, College Board and the International Baccalaureate, were used.

A four-step process was used to rank all eligible schools. The first two steps were to determine whether students were performing better than statistically expected in the state and whether minority were performing at or better than the state average for minority students, which was the second step. The third step required schools to meet or surpass a certain graduation benchmark and the final step was to determine college readiness. (You can read the full methodology here.) The top 10 high schools in the U.S. overall are: