I took Algebra 1 last year as an 8th grader and it was tough.
But here in Florida it goes like this: 8th: Pre-Algebra (Regular), Algebra 1 (Regular), or Algebra 1 Honors (for those super-smart people); 9th: Algebra 1 (Regular), Algebra 1 (Honors), Geometry (Regular) (what I'm in), or Geometry (Honors); 10th: Geometry (Regular), Geometry (Honors), Algebra 2 (Regular), or Algebra 2 (Honors).