While it’s time for back-to-school shopping for most youngsters in Pennsylvania, more than 122,000 recent graduates of the state’s 674 public high schools can smirk at the deluge of ads, knowing their secondary education career is behind them. That number includes alums from tax-funded secondary charter schools, career and technical centers, as well as traditional school districts.

There are 26 such schools in Lehigh and Northampton counties: 20 high schools under the aegis of the area’s 17 districts, and six charter schools. Together they graduated 7,320 out of 8,121 students — 90.1% — in the traditional four-year timeframe. The numbers exclude students who earned GED diplomas. The state Education Department also tracks students who matriculate in five- or six-year timeframes.

Here is a list of local districts and charters, including their graduation rates in 2023-25.

Institutions with their numbers in red are experiencing a statistical decline in their four-year graduation rates based on the latest three years of reports. Local four-year rates range from 74.6% in Allentown School District to 99.3% at the Charter High School for the Arts in Bethlehem. The best performing school district in the area is Pen Argyl, which handed diplomas to 97.6% of its student in four years. The top spot used to be held by Northwestern Lehigh, but that district has seen a one-percentage point dip in its matriculation rate.

This map shows similar results for 495 of the state’s 500 public school districts. The districts are shaded based on their graduation rates in relation to the statewide average of 89.9%. Districts whose name appears in red are experiencing a statistical decline in graduation rates.

Allentown School District, with 16,770 students in all grades, covers the parts of the city that are not in Parkland or Salisbury. It is the fourth largest in the state by enrollment after Philadelphia (120,148), Pittsburgh (19,581) and Central Bucks (16,941). Its 74.6% four-year graduation rate is Pennsylvania’s third lowest, besting only Harrisburg (69%) and York (70.5%). Bethlehem Area’s 12,770 students make it the state’s ninth largest district by enrollment, but it sits 66 rungs higher in the rankings, with its 88.8% graduation rate.

Those are the only two local districts that run multiple secondary schools. The table below shows the results for each building.

Allentown’s former Building 21 was relaunched as the Bridgeview Academy of Health, Science, Innovation and Technology for the 2025-26 academic year. The numbers shown reflect its performance as Building 21. The school, with a much smaller cohort than either Dieruff or Allen high schools, had a four-year graduation rate 92.2%, 24.4 percentage points higher than Allen. It also outperformed Catasauqua, Northampton, Freedom and Liberty in Bethlehem, and Salisbury.

Bethlehem Area’s two high school were closer in performance, with less than 3 percentage points separating them.

Performing against type

The Lehigh Valley is unusual in that three out of the top five high schools by graduation rate are charter schools, including the top two spots taken by the Charter High School for the Arts and Executive Education Academy. The table below breaks out four-year graduation rates by school type.

The state’s 10 career and technical centers did better at graduating their students within four years than the 600 district high schools, and significantly better than the 81 public charter schools on average. But only about 1.4% of graduates came through CTCs compared with almost 90% of the 123,986 graduates going through traditional district high schools, and 9.4% graduating from charter schools.