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 30, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 166)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
91	Willow Lake High School - 01	Public	9-12	400 Garfield Ave	Willow Lake	57278	Clark County	Willow Lake School District 12-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 625-5945	69	6	11	29.0%	66 (95.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,414			$211			$14,204	50.8	89.4	9	82		467935000756
92	Philip High School - 01	Public	9-12	330 Scottie Ave	Philip	57567	Haakon County	Haakon School District 27-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 859-2680	109	8	13.5	17.4%	96 (88.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.6%)	1 (0.9%)	6 (5.5%)	$14,911			$815			$14,095	49.4	30.7	107	15		463049000256
93	Wessington Springs High School - 01	Public	9-12	302 Dakota Ave N	Wessington Springs	57382	Jerauld County	Wessington Springs School District 36-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 539-9391	94	8	11.3	17.0%	93 (98.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,680			$290			$12,390	48.9			(n/a)		467746000733
94	Parker High School - 01	Public	9-12	335 W 1st St	Parker	57053	Turner County	Parker School District 60-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 297-3456	141	10	13.7	15.6%	130 (92.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.3%)	$10,088			$00			$10,088	48.1	36.3	93	1		465427000488
95	Gayville-Volin High School - 01	Public	9-12	100 Kingsbury St	Gayville	57031	Yankton County	Gayville-Volin School District 63-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 267-4476	95	6	15.3	18.9%	83 (87.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	$11,825			$349			$11,476	47.8	37.7	91	4		462649000227
96	Deubrook High School - 01	Public	9-12	100 School Ave	White	57276	Brookings County	Deubrook Area School District 05-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 629-1114	105	9	11.3	11.4%	98 (93.3%)	1 (1.0%)	2 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.9%)	$13,290			$02			$13,288	46.2	47.4	78	18		467830000012
97	Central High School - 01	Public	9-12	2200 S Roosevelt St	Aberdeen	57401	Brown County	Aberdeen School District 06-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 725-8100	1,384	80	17.2	33.8%	1,022 (73.8%)	31 (2.2%)	121 (8.7%)	38 (2.7%)	93 (6.7%)	9 (0.7%)	70 (5.1%)	$10,660			$445			$10,215	46.1	30.6	108	11		460207000003
98	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	222	15	14.7	18.5%	199 (89.6%)	2 (0.9%)	17 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$13,022			$00			$13,022	45.4	43.2	83	15		460636000048
99	Dell Rapids High School - 01	Public	9-12	1216 N Garfield Ave	Dell Rapids	57022	Minnehaha County	Dell Rapids School District 49-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 428-5473	315	19	16.3	16.5%	285 (90.5%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (6.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.5%)	$10,841			$401			$10,440	45.2	32.9	101	2		461812000165
100	Plankinton High School - 01	Public	9-12	404 E Davenport St	Plankinton	57368	Aurora County	Plankinton School District 01-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 942-7743	86	9	10	29.1%	60 (69.8%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (27.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,480			$250			$17,230	45.2	34.9	95	5		465571000508

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for South Dakota

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for SD student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Foster Care Students Military Connected Students

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 30, 2025, 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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.