Summary:
ZIP code 55748 is home to three public schools serving grades PK through 12 in the small, rural Hill City area of Minnesota: Hill City Elementary (PK–4, 112 students), Hill City Middle School (5–8, 83 students), and Hill City Senior High (9–12, 72 students) — 267 students in all — every one of them in the Hill City Public School District. The district ranks 386 of 458 in Minnesota, in the 16th percentile with 1 star, and all three schools serve high-poverty populations, with free or reduced lunch rates between 54% and 63%.
Comparing the three, Hill City Middle School is currently the weakest, ranking 503 of 546 — the 8th percentile with 0 stars. Its all-grade math is 6.3%, reading 26.3%, and science 5.4%, with 8th-grade math and science both at 0.0%; it also has the highest student-teacher ratio at 20.6:1, nearly double the elementary's 12.0:1 and the high school's 11.1:1. Hill City Senior High holds the best current rank of the three — 317 of 473, the 33rd percentile, 2 stars — with a graduation rate of 84.2% against the state's 84.9% and 10th-grade reading of 43.8% versus the state's 42.5%, though its all-grade and 11th-grade math are both 0.0%. Hill City Elementary is the most volatile: all-grade math was 67.74% in 2024–2025, well above the state's 45.21%, then fell to 28.9% the following year, while reading slipped from 45.16% to 36.8%.
Math is the deepest shared weakness. In 2025–2026 the district's math proficiency was 12.5% against the state's 44.9%, with every school below state averages in every reported subject. Reading is comparatively closer, though the middle school's 26.3% sits far below the state's 48.6%. Because enrollments are small, a handful of students can move a grade-level rate dramatically, so year-to-year swings like the elementary school's should be read with caution.
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