Which Apples Are Ranked Highest on Apple Rankings?

The highest-ranked apple on Apple Rankings is SweeTango, scoring 95 and labeled "The Holy Grail." It sits in the site's "Nearly Perfect" tier, followed closely by Lucy Glo (93, "The Breathtaking Circus Freak") and a cluster of 90-point "Superb" apples: Pink Lady, Ludacrisp, and SugarBee. If you only want the short answer, those five names are the top of the board.

The Top Apples at a Glance

Apple Rankings organizes its list into tiers, and the top section is where the highest scores live. Here's how the leaders break down:

The site's own framing calls SweeTango the top entry, and the 90-point group is where the "Superb" tier begins. Everything above 90 is reserved for the two apples at the very top.

How the Ranking Works

Apple Rankings is curated by comedian Brian Frange, who brands it as "the industry-standard, definitive, inarguable guide to ranking and reviewing munching apples." The structure is straightforward:

• A numeric score drives the order, from the mid-90s down through the 50s.
• Named tiers group apples by score band. The top of the list uses "Nearly Perfect" and "Superb," while lower bands include "Excellent," "Very Good," "Pretty Good," "Mediocre," and "Barely Worth It."
• A nickname or title accompanies each apple, which is part of the site's comedic voice rather than a formal grading criterion.

So "highest ranked" means highest numeric score, and the tier labels are simply bands within that same scale.

Just Below the Top

If the top five aren't available at your store, the next tier down is still strong. These apples score in the high 80s and carry the "Excellent" label:

• Cosmic Crisp — 88, "The Hype Machine"
• Kanzi — 85, "The European Party Apple"
• Honeycrisp — 83, "The Queen Mother"
• Envy — 82, "The Guilty Pleasure"
• Kissabel Rouge — 81, "La Pomme de Triomphe"
• WildTwist — 80, "A Famous Person's Child"
• Opal — 77, "A Juicy Ass"
• SnapDragon — 77, "The Paper Dragon"
• Rave — 75, "The Knockoff Brand Honeycrisp"

Note that Honeycrisp, often treated as a premium apple in stores, lands at 83 here — below several newer varieties. That's a useful signal that the site's rankings don't simply mirror brand reputation or price.

Where the List Turns Average

The "Average Apples" section starts around the mid-70s and runs down through the 50s. A few reference points:

• GoldRush — 74, "A Goldmine of Flavor" (Pretty Good)
• EverCrisp — 72, "The Jawbreaker" (Pretty Good)
• Braeburn — 71, "The Civil Rights Apple" (Pretty Good)
• Gala — 68, "The Base Model" (Mediocre)
• Empire — 65, "A Spunky Optimist" (Mediocre)
• Macoun — 63, "The Cinderella Apple" (Barely Worth It)
• Pazazz — 60, "The Desperate Musical Theater Major" (Barely Worth It)
• Hunnyz — 58, "The Worst Named Apple" (Barely Worth It)

The bottom of the visible list sits in the high 50s, so the scale clearly has room below that for apples not shown in the top section.

How to Find the Rankings Yourself

The site presents the list on its homepage under the "Top Apples" heading, with each entry showing the apple name, its title, and its score. To use it:

1. Go to applerankings.com.
2. Look for the Top Apples section, which leads the page.
3. Read down the list — entries are ordered by score, highest first.
4. Use the tier labels (Nearly Perfect, Superb, Excellent, etc.) to gauge where an apple falls without memorizing exact numbers.

The page also includes search and post-type selectors, so you can look up a specific variety if you already have one in mind rather than scanning the whole list.

What to Take From the Rankings

The practical upshot: if you want the site's single highest-rated apple, buy SweeTango. If you want a broader shortlist of top performers, the 90-and-above group — SweeTango, Lucy Glo, Pink Lady, Ludacrisp, and SugarBee — is the place to start. And if you're deciding between a familiar name and a newer one, check the score first: the rankings put several widely sold apples well below the top tier.