The Triangle's 10 highest ranked public schools

• The list includes traditional public schools, charter schools and magnet schools.

The 10 highest-ranking schools in the Triangle region were:

1. Raleigh Charter High, No. 4 in North Carolina and No. 156 in the U.S.
2. Woods Charter School in Chapel Hill, No. 5 in N.C. and No. 244 in the U.S.
3. Wake STEM Early College in Cary, No. 6 in N.C. and No. 261 in the U.S.
4. Green Level High in Cary, No. 9 in N.C. and No. 318 in the U.S.
5. East Chapel Hill High, No. 11 in N.C. and No. 389 in the U.S.
6. Chapel Hill High, No. 14 in N.C. and No. 515 in the U.S.
7. Green Hope High in Cary, No. 16 in N.C. and No. 523 in the U.S.
8. Research Triangle High in Durham, No. 17 in N.C. and No. 536 in the U.S.
9. Triangle Math and Science Academy in Cary, No. 18 in N.C. and No. 540 in the U.S.
10. Panther Creek High in Cary, No. 20 in N.C. and No. 643 in the U.S.

How it works: U.S. News worked with Durham-based RTI International to rank schools throughout the country using third-party data.

• The ranking judged schools based on college readiness, state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates.