Harriton, Lower Merion High rank 6th and 7th in Pennsylvania

Harriton Senior High School and Lower Merion High School landed at No. 6 and No. 7 on Niche's 2027 list of the best public high schools in Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh-based school-ranking company released the results Monday, Sept. 28, placing both Lower Merion School District high schools in the state's top 10. No other Pennsylvania district placed two schools that high on the list.

Niche, founded by CEO Luke Skurman, analyzed 93,000 public schools, 30,000 private schools and 11,000 school districts nationwide for the 2027 edition. The rankings draw on federal and state data, school statistics and more than 3 million reviews from students, parents and teachers.

"Families deserve a complete view of their options, whether they're evaluating schools in their area or exploring what's available elsewhere," Skurman said in a news release.

The 2027 edition also introduced new standalone rankings separating public and private schools in categories including best schools for the arts, most diverse schools and best college prep schools.

Lower Merion High School's individual Niche profile shows an A-plus in academics, an A in teachers and college prep, and an A-minus in diversity. Harriton's school-level grades were not available on the Niche site as of Sept. 28.

The dual recognition follows a separate set of rankings from U.S. News & World Report in August. That list, covered by Patch, placed Lower Merion High School eighth in Pennsylvania and 380th nationally, with a score of 97.88 out of 100. U.S. News reported a 96 percent graduation rate at LMHS and found that 52 percent of students passed at least one Advanced Placement exam. Twenty-two percent of students were considered economically disadvantaged.

The pattern is consistent. Both independent ranking systems placed LMHS among the top 10 public high schools in the state.

Conestoga High School in the Tredyffrin-Easttown School District topped the Niche public-school list. Julia R. Masterman in Philadelphia came in second, followed by Radnor Senior High School at No. 3.

Approximately 8,600 students returned to LMSD's 11 schools on Sept. 8 for the start of the 2026-27 school year, according to the district's website. Niche's full 2027 rankings are available on niche.com.