NC School Navigator

Find and explore public, charter, magnet and private schools across North Carolina. Compare programs, performance data, school assignments and educational options to find what may be the best fit for your family.

Data sources: NC DPI School Performance Grade 2023-24 · NCES EDGE 2023-24 · NCES CCD 2024-25

Official district school assignment locators

Click your county to open the official address lookup tool:
The district locator returns only the base/zoned public school. Charter, magnet, and private programs admit via lottery and are not address-assigned.

School-of-choice programs (lottery-based)

Charter, magnet, and early college schools admit students by lottery — they are not assigned by home address. Distance only matters for commute.
Current dataset: 197 charters · 78 magnets · 88 early colleges across NC.
Official magnet directories
Wake County (WCPSS) Magnet Directory — 52 magnets with themes (STEM, IB, Leadership, Spanish/Mandarin Immersion, Arts, etc.) Durham (DPS) Magnet Schools — 16 elementary magnets (IB, Montessori, Dual Language Immersion, Year-Round) Charlotte-Mecklenburg (CMS) — Magnet & Choice Programs Winston-Salem/Forsyth Magnet Schools Guilford County Schools — Magnet Programs
Magnet themes (STEM, IB, etc.) are shown in each school's popup. Private (tuition-based) schools are not included in this dataset.
📍 School coordinates
Browser-side geocoder (OpenStreetMap Nominatim). Results cached locally.
Enter → identify county and surface official assignment locator
1 (low)10 (high)
About this tool

NC School Navigator is an independent public-education data explorer that aggregates publicly available datasets from the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The 1-10 school rating is computed from the official NC DPI School Performance Grade (SPG) and growth designation. Underlying scores, demographics, and grades are produced by government agencies — not by any individual.

Equal Housing Opportunity

This tool is provided in compliance with the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §3601-3619), HUD regulations, and the NAR Code of Ethics (Article 10). It is intended for informational and research purposes only. Demographic and school data should not be used to discriminate against any protected class:

  • race, color, national origin
  • religion
  • sex, gender identity, sexual orientation (per HUD 2021 interpretation)
  • familial status
  • disability

School assignment is determined by the local district. Always confirm via the district\'s official locator before making decisions. See NAR Code of Ethics and HUD Fair Housing.

Data sources
  • Grade, test scores, growth, EDS: NC DPI School Performance Grade 2023-24
  • School coordinates: NCES EDGE Public School Geographic Data 2023-24
  • Charter status: NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25
  • Magnet schools: WCPSS Magnet Directory (Wake), DPS Magnet Programs (Durham). Magnet flags in NCES CCD were deprecated after ~2019.
  • Enrollment & racial composition: NCES ELSI 2023-24
  • Median household income (ZIP): U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2019-2023 (B19013)
Important caveats
  • Grades, demographics, and attendance zones change annually — data may be outdated
  • Attendance zones are set by school boards — always verify via the official locator
  • Charter and magnet programs admit by lottery — no guarantee of placement
  • Private schools are not included in this dataset
  • This tool is informational only; consult licensed professionals and official sources
Coverage: 2,647 public schools across all 100 NC counties · 2,541 with full DPI rating · race/ethnicity breakdown shown for Triangle area (437 schools); other counties pending NCES Membership upload. Data version: 2023-24 school year.

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Schools you've added from the map. Compare side-by-side, download as CSV, or email the report.

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