Best High Schools in South Dakota

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
11	Brentwood Colony Virtual High School - 92	Public, Virtual	9-12	15442 343rd Ave	Faulkton	57438	Faulk County	Faulkton Area Schools 24-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	No	(605) 598-6266	7	1	13.4		7 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								86.3			(n/a)		462403001405
12	Sioux Valley High School - 01	Public	9-12	200 Hansina Ave	Volga	57071	Brookings County	Sioux Valley School District 05-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 627-5657	214	13	16.4	11.7%	192 (89.7%)	2 (0.9%)	11 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.3%)	$11,132			$65			$11,067	86.1	72.2	33	21		466630000612
13	Lennox High School - 01	Public	9-12	1201 S Main St	Lennox	57039	Lincoln County	Lennox School District 41-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 647-2203	357	21	17.2	14.8%	329 (92.2%)	2 (0.6%)	6 (1.7%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.8%)	$11,065			$263			$10,802	85.8	86.1	13			464155000387
14	Harding County High School - 01	Public	9-12	12474 Tipperary St	Buffalo	57720	Harding County	Harding County School District 31-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 375-3241	66	7	9.5	22.7%	65 (98.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	$18,767			$853			$17,914	85	33.1	100	86		460930000088
15	Brandon Valley High School - 01	Public	9-12	301 S Splitrock Blvd	Brandon	57005	Minnehaha County	Brandon Valley School District 49-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 582-3211	1,381	67	20.4	14.3%	1,178 (85.3%)	55 (4.0%)	58 (4.2%)	28 (2.0%)	15 (1.1%)	3 (0.2%)	44 (3.2%)	$9,784			$278			$9,506	83.6	91	6	9		460795000071
16	Lincoln High School - 02	Public	9-12	2900 S Cliff Ave	Sioux Falls	57105	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 367-7990	1,954	118	16.4	34.7%	1,285 (65.8%)	158 (8.1%)	262 (13.4%)	36 (1.8%)	69 (3.5%)	4 (0.2%)	140 (7.2%)	$11,747			$649			$11,098	82.8	87.3	11	5		466627000600
17	Hanson High School - 01	Public	9-12	230 6th St	Alexandria	57311	Hanson County	Hanson School District 30-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 239-4387	122	10	12.3	13.1%	117 (95.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.3%)	$11,110			$83			$11,027	82.6	80.1	22	5		460264000017
18	Chester High School - 01	Public	9-12	102 2nd Ave	Chester	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 489-2411	107	10	10.6	14.0%	102 (95.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.7%)	$13,027			$417			$12,610	82.3	86.6	12	6		461230000130
19	Lake Preston High School - 01	Public	9-12	300 1st St NE	Lake Preston	57249	Kingsbury County	Lake Preston School District 38-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 847-4455	41	7	5.5	22.0%	38 (92.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.9%)	$25,873			$07			$25,866	81.7	53.7	69	50		463999000368
20	Northwestern High School - 01	Public	9-12	221 3rd St	Mellette	57461	Spink County	Northwestern Area School District 56-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 887-3467	91	8	11.8	14.3%	87 (95.6%)	1 (1.1%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	$14,315			$71			$14,244	80.9	85.3	16	4		465175000475

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for South Dakota

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.