Maine South High School landed 32nd in Illinois and Maine East placed 103rd in U.S. News & World Report's 2026-27 best high school rankings, released the week of Aug. 18.

The annual list, produced with research firm RTI International, evaluated more than 27,000 public high schools nationwide and ranked nearly 18,000 of them. Maine South also placed 31st among Chicago-area schools and 673rd nationally, while Maine East came in 98th in the Chicago area and 2,477th nationally, according to Journal & Topics.

Both Park Ridge schools outperformed the third District 207 campus, Maine West in Des Plaines, which ranked 182nd in Illinois and 4,652nd nationally. Maine West trailed both.

How the rankings work

U.S. News weighted six indicators of school quality. College readiness carries the most weight at 30%, measuring the share of students who took an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam and earned a qualifying score. The remaining factors: state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance (20%), underserved student performance (10%), college curriculum breadth (10%) and graduation rate (10%).

The rankings also factor in how well Black, Latino and underserved students performed on state assessments and how a school's results compare to similar schools, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Statewide and suburban context

Illinois' top-ranked school overall was Northside College Prep in Chicago, which placed 30th nationally. Walter Payton College Prep ranked second in the state. Both are selective-enrollment schools that admit fewer than 5% of applicants.

Among suburban non-selective public high schools, Adlai Stevenson in Lincolnshire ranked first, placing 8th in Illinois and 208th nationally. Closer to Park Ridge, Glenbrook North ranked 15th in Illinois, William Fremd 18th, John Hersey 22nd and Prospect 30th.

Chicago Magazine's suburban list

A separate ranking of Suburban Cook County high schools, published in the Chicago Tribune on Monday, Aug. 24, placed Maine South 10th and Maine East 18th. That list used a different methodology based on ACT proficiency, ACT growth, consistent attendance and graduation rate, drawing on 2024-25 Illinois State Board of Education data.

Both sets of rankings rely on 2024-25 performance data, the most recent available from the Illinois State Board of Education.