Top Public High Schools in the Tri-Cities by Graduation Rate
The Tri-Cities — Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland, plus the smaller Benton City, Connell, and Burbank communities — form one of the more distinctive secondary education environments in Washington. The metro is dominated by three large public school districts (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland) whose flagship comprehensive high schools each enroll between 1,900 and 3,200 students, and is unusually shaped by the legacy of the Hanford Site: the original Hanford High School building, constructed in 1916, is now a National Park Service-administered Manhattan Project site, and the modern Hanford High School in Richland operates with a STEM identity that traces directly to that history.
Chiawana Senior High School, the Pasco School District flagship, leads the table at 92.9 percent — and is, with 3,152 students, the largest high school in Washington. Chiawana's enrollment growth required sixteen portable buildings with thirty-two classrooms beyond the main facility, and the district opened the smaller Sageview High School in August 2025 to ease the load. Richland High School, with its long Bombers identity tied to Hanford history, follows at 92.1 percent; Hanford High at 91.3 percent rounds out the Richland entries. Hanford posts the strongest combined SAT (1240) and AP profile (84 percent pass rate) of any comprehensive in the Tri-Cities.
Kamiakin and Southridge in the Kennewick district come in fourth and fifth. Southridge's 1199 SAT mean and 66 percent AP pass rate place it just behind Hanford on academic indicators among traditional comprehensives. Kennewick High, the original Lions campus, follows at 86.9 percent. Pasco Senior High School at 80.9 percent reflects the historical pattern of Pasco's long-time bilingual majority-Hispanic enrollment having lower completion rates than Kennewick or Richland, although the gap has narrowed in recent years.
The lower half of the top ten reaches outside the immediate metro into the Walla Walla, North Franklin, and Finley districts: Columbia High School in tiny Burbank, Kiona-Benton City, and River View — each enrolling fewer than 500 students. The presence of these small rural schools alongside the larger Tri-Cities flagships reflects the regional commuting and athletic-conference geography rather than urban-rural separation.
Hanford High School in Richland leads the Tri-Cities on this lens. Richland SD's three comprehensive 9-12s (Hanford, Richland, Delta) all clear the low-90s threshold, reflecting the district's higher household incomes and lower ELL caseload than the larger Pasco SD. Pasco SD's Pasco High and Chiawana High serve a much larger and more diverse student body with rates a tier below the Richland leaders.
Ranked schools
- 001CHIAWANA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLPASCO SCHOOL DISTRICT · FRANKLIN93%
- 002RICHLAND HIGH SCHOOLRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON92%
- 003HANFORD HIGH SCHOOLRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON91%
- 004KAMIAKIN HIGH SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON91%
- 005SOUTHRIDGE HIGH SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON90%
- 006KENNEWICK HIGH SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON87%
- 007PASCO SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLPASCO SCHOOL DISTRICT · FRANKLIN81%
- 008COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOLCOLUMBIA (WALLA WALLA) SCHOOL DISTRICT · WALLA WALLA79%
- 009KIONA-BENTON CITY HIGH SCHOOLKIONA-BENTON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON77%
- 010RIVER VIEW HIGH SCHOOLFINLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON73%
- 011PACIFIC CREST ONLINE ACADEMYRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON72%
- 012RIVERS EDGE HIGH SCHOOLRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON50%
- 013PHOENIX HIGH SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON47%
- 014ENDEAVOR HIGH SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON43%
- 015NEW HORIZONS HIGH SCHOOLPASCO SCHOOL DISTRICT · FRANKLIN30%
- 016LEGACY HIGH SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON23%
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