Best High Schools in South Dakota

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Find the best South Dakota high schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish South Dakota test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the South Dakota Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 17, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2023)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 141)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
464794200430	81	Miller High School - 01	Public	9-12	623 E 4th St	Miller	57362	Hand County	Miller 29-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 853-2455	133	12	11.2	7.5%	126 (94.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,162			$1,021			$16,142	45.1	33.6	98	17
468010000784	82	Wolsey Wessington High School - 01	Public	9-12	375 Ash St SE	Wolsey	57384	Beadle County	Wolsey Wessington School District 02-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 883-4221	110	9	12.8	30.9%	98 (89.1%)	1 (0.9%)	7 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.7%)	$13,509			$611			$12,898	43.7	5.4	133	51
460636000048	83	Beresford High School - 01	Public	9-12	301 W Maple St	Beresford	57004	Union County	Beresford School District 61-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 763-2145	227	15	15.4	14.5%	204 (89.9%)	1 (0.4%)	17 (7.5%)	3 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$10,788			$116			$10,672	43.2	14.5	124	41
467971000781	84	Winner High School - 01	Public	9-12	431 E 7th St	Winner	57580	Tripp County	Winner School District 59-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 842-8125	210	14	15.2	33.8%	147 (70.0%)	4 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (28.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,091			$1,832			$11,260	43.1	20.9	115	31
465067000464	85	New Underwood High School - 01	Public	9-12	300 E Ash St	New Underwood	57761	Pennington County	New Underwood School District 51-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 754-6485	96	5	18.5	20.8%	81 (84.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (10.4%)	$9,959			$254			$9,705	42.3	48.8	77	8
461785000163	86	De Smet High School - 01	Public	9-12	405 3rd St SW	De Smet	57231	Kingsbury County	De Smet School District 38-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 854-3423	82	8	10.3	9.8%	78 (95.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.4%)	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.2%)	$14,726			$149			$14,577	41.2	57.7	60	26
463615000339	87	Iroquois High School - 01	Public	9-12	111 E Washita St	Iroquois	57353	Kingsbury County	Iroquois School District 02-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 546-2426	66	6	11.1	28.8%	58 (87.9%)	2 (3.0%)	1 (1.5%)	1 (1.5%)	2 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.0%)	$15,733			$678			$15,056	41.1	19	118	31
464130000374	88	Lead-Deadwood High School - 01	Public	9-12	320 S Main St	Lead	57754	Lawrence County	Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 717-3899	222	19	11.6	19.8%	188 (84.7%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.1%)	3 (1.4%)	11 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.0%)	$18,368			$1,643			$16,725	40.8	26.6	108	20
460102601026	89	McCook Central High School - 01	Public	9-12	200 E Essex	Salem	57058	McCook County	McCook Central School District 43-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 425-2264	128	8	15.8	16.4%	122 (95.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.3%)	$15,062			$357			$14,705	40.7	34.4	97	8
462988000239	90	Gregory High School - 01	Public	9-12	505 Logan St	Gregory	57533	Gregory County	Gregory School District 26-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 835-9672	114	11	10.7	37.7%	92 (80.7%)	1 (0.9%)	2 (1.8%)	3 (2.6%)	15 (13.2%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,017			$426			$13,591	40.1	54	71	19

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for SD student subgroups:

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, Smarter Balanced Assessments Science test scores released by the South Dakota Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 17, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the South Dakota Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the South Dakota Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Dakota Department of Education.