Summit Senior High School landed at No. 22 out of 433 public high schools in New Jersey in Niche's 2027 Best Schools rankings, released Monday, Sept. 28.

The placement puts the 1,198-student school in the top 5 percent statewide and No. 5 among Union County's 37 public high schools, according to Niche's rankings page. Nationally, Summit High placed No. 393 out of 20,664 public high schools evaluated.

Niche, a Pittsburgh-based school-research platform, analyzed 93,000 public schools, 30,000 private schools and 11,000 school districts for the 2027 cycle, Patch reported. The rankings draw on federal and state data, school statistics and more than 3 million reviews from students, parents and teachers.

Academics carry the most weight in Niche's methodology, accounting for 60 percent of a school's score. Culture and diversity make up 12.5 percent, while parent and student surveys and teacher quality each account for 10 percent.

Clubs, facilities and sports split the remaining 7.5 percent. Culture and diversity, along with teacher quality, are both new standalone factors this year, according to Niche's methodology page.

Summit High earned an A in academics, teachers, college prep and sports on its Niche profile. Diversity received an A-minus. The school holds a 4.07-out-of-5 rating based on 174 reviews, with students and parents praising athletics, performing arts and a wide range of Advanced Placement and honors courses.

The school also placed No. 30 in best college prep public high schools in New Jersey and No. 34 in best high schools for athletes statewide.

Three Union County schools ranked higher on the statewide list: Union County Magnet High School at No. 4, Academy for Information Technology at No. 6 and Union County Vocational-Technical High School at No. 15.

Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche, said the updated rankings give families broader tools for comparing schools across public and private categories. Niche separated its public and private lists this year for several categories, including best college prep schools and most diverse schools.

No public statement from Summit school officials about the ranking had been released as of Sept. 28.