Central Florida on Florida’s Top 100: The 2026 U.S. News High School Rankings, Mapped
Six Central Florida high schools landed on U.S. News & World Report’s newest ranking of the best public high schools in Florida, including four in Orange County and two that cracked the statewide top 25. Here is the full picture, charted, plus what strong schools tend to mean for the neighborhoods around them.
NeoCity Academy in Kissimmee ranked No. 3 among Florida public high schools on the U.S. News 2026–2027 list, the highest-placed Central Florida school.
Image: Jared Jones Team
Source: U.S. News & World Report, 2026–2027 Best High Schools (Florida). Graphic by the Jared Jones Team.
What to Know
The rankings in brief
U.S. News evaluated roughly 27,000 public high schools nationwide and ranked close to 18,000 of them for its 2026–2027 edition. Here is where Central Florida landed.
A top-3 school is local. NeoCity Academy in Kissimmee ranks No. 3 in all of Florida, the highest-placed Central Florida school on the list.
Four Orange County schools in the top 100. Winter Park, Windermere, Timber Creek and Lake Nona high schools all earned spots on the statewide top-100 ranking.
Two crack the top 25. Beyond NeoCity at No. 3, Orlando Science Middle High Charter in Orlando lands at No. 22 statewide.
Four Orange County high schools—Winter Park, Windermere, Timber Creek and Lake Nona—earned spots on U.S. News & World Report’s 2026–2027 list of Florida’s best public high schools, and two other Central Florida schools ranked even higher: NeoCity Academy in Kissimmee at No. 3 statewide and Orlando Science at No. 22.
The figures come from U.S. News & World Report’s 2026–2027 Best High Schools project, as compiled by Tiffany Razzano for Patch and reported locally by the West Orange Times & Observer. The methodology weighs college readiness, performance on state assessments, how well schools serve underserved students, graduation rates and the breadth of college-level coursework.
“Great schools anchor great neighborhoods, and Central Florida keeps proving it.”— Jared Jones, Jared Jones Team, brokered by eXp Realty
Where does Central Florida land on the statewide list?
The clearest way to see it is on a single scale. Lower numbers are better, and the six Central Florida schools spread from the very top of the state all the way through the top 100. NeoCity’s No. 3 finish puts a Kissimmee school within arm’s reach of Florida’s number one.
Interactive Chart
Central Florida’s six ranked schools
Rank is shown at left; longer bars sit higher on Florida’s statewide ranking. Bars animate as you scroll in.
Source: U.S. News & World Report, 2026–2027 Best High Schools, Florida rankings (usnews.com). Orange County placements via the West Orange Times & Observer. Bar length is a visual scale of statewide position, not a score.
The full Florida top 25
For context, here is the statewide top 25, with the two Central Florida entries highlighted. Miami-Dade and Duval magnet and charter programs dominate the very top, which makes NeoCity’s No. 3 finish stand out even more.
Interactive Table
Florida’s top 25 public high schools
Source: U.S. News & World Report, 2026–2027 Best High Schools (Florida), compiled by Tiffany Razzano for Patch. School cities cross-checked against U.S. News school profiles.
The four Orange County schools in the top 100
Orange County Public Schools placed four campuses on the statewide top-100 list. Winter Park High is the district’s strongest showing, followed by Windermere, Timber Creek and Lake Nona. Nationally, Windermere High also ranked No. 1,193 out of more than 16,000 ranked schools.
Central Florida by the numbers
The headline is not just that four Orange County schools made the list, but that a Central Florida school sits inside the statewide top three.
See the ranked schools on the map
The interactive map below pins NeoCity Academy in Kissimmee, the No. 3 school in the state, so you can see where Central Florida’s top performer sits relative to the surrounding neighborhoods.
Interactive Map
NeoCity Academy, mapped
Map data © Google. Pinned location: NeoCity Academy in Kissimmee, the No. 3-ranked public high school in Florida. School ranking via U.S. News & World Report, 2026–2027 Best High Schools (Florida).
A light real estate read
For buyers weighing a move to Central Florida, school ratings are one of the most durable signals of a neighborhood’s pull. Zoned high school quality shows up again and again in relocation decisions, and it tends to support steady demand for the homes that feed those campuses.
Around Winter Garden, Windermere and Horizon West, that dynamic is easy to see. Families relocating from out of state often start their home search by mapping the schools first, then work outward to the neighborhoods, which keeps well-zoned communities consistently competitive.
The Takeaway
Central Florida’s showing on the 2026–2027 U.S. News rankings is stronger than a single-district headline suggests. A Kissimmee school sits at No. 3 in the entire state, an Orlando charter lands in the top 25, and four Orange County high schools carry the region into the statewide top 100.
For anyone buying or selling nearby, that is useful context. School reputation and neighborhood demand move together, and this list is a fresh, credible data point to factor into the decision.
FAQ
Which Central Florida high schools made U.S. News’ 2026–2027 Florida rankings?
Six Central Florida schools appear on the list: NeoCity Academy in Kissimmee (No. 3 statewide), Orlando Science Middle High Charter in Orlando (No. 22), and four Orange County schools in the top 100—Winter Park High (No. 58), Windermere High (No. 78), Timber Creek High (No. 82) and Lake Nona High (No. 88).
What is the highest-ranked public high school in Florida for 2026–2027?
Pine View School in Osprey is ranked No. 1 in Florida and No. 13 nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026–2027 Best High Schools rankings.
Where does Windermere High rank nationally?
Windermere High ranked No. 78 in Florida and No. 1,193 nationally out of more than 16,000 ranked high schools, as reported by the West Orange Times & Observer.
How does U.S. News rank high schools?
The rankings weigh six measures: college readiness, performance and proficiency on state assessments, how well schools serve underserved students, breadth of college-level coursework, and graduation rates. The 2026–2027 edition used 2023–2024 school-year data.
Do school rankings affect home values in Central Florida?
School quality is one of the most consistent drivers of buyer demand, especially for relocating families who prioritize zoned schools. Well-rated school zones around Winter Garden, Windermere and Horizon West tend to see steady, competitive demand, though many factors influence any individual home’s value.
Sources & Related Reading
All rankings originate with U.S. News & World Report. These are the primary sources behind this story.
Buying near a top-rated school zone?
School zones shape where Central Florida families choose to buy. When a move is on your radar, local context makes the difference. Call the Jared Jones Team at 407-706-5000, Winter Garden, FL.