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!

JUST IN! South Dakota Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores and updated rankings for the 2023-24 school year were recently posted to SchoolDigger!

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.

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)
466993000633	31	Sturgis Brown High School - 01	Public	9-12	12930 E Hwy 34	Sturgis	57785	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 347-2686	842	51	16.6	23.2%	712 (84.6%)	4 (0.5%)	43 (5.1%)	6 (0.7%)	24 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (6.3%)	$8,709			$372			$8,336	73.9	59.3	58	27
465526000500	32	T F Riggs High School - 01	Public	9-12	1010 E Broadway Ave	Pierre	57501	Hughes County	Pierre School District 32-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 773-7350	842	50	16.9	17.3%	583 (69.2%)	6 (0.7%)	53 (6.3%)	10 (1.2%)	101 (12.0%)	1 (0.1%)	88 (10.5%)	$9,413			$615			$8,798	72.9	64.4	44	12
466630000612	33	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	224	12	18	10.3%	203 (90.6%)	2 (0.9%)	11 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.6%)	$9,951			$103			$9,847	72.2	82.8	16	17
463699000345	34	Dakota Valley High School - 01	Public	9-12	1150 Northshore Dr	North Sioux City	57049	Union County	Dakota Valley School District 61-8	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 422-3820	448	26	17.2	7.6%	360 (80.4%)	10 (2.2%)	36 (8.0%)	9 (2.0%)	6 (1.3%)	4 (0.9%)	23 (5.1%)	$10,584			$588			$9,997	71.5	68.8	36	2
463135000264	35	Harrisburg High School - 01	Public	9-12	1300 W Willow St	Harrisburg	57032	Lincoln County	Harrisburg School District 41-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 743-2567	1,613	109	14.8	9.2%	1,401 (86.9%)	55 (3.4%)	59 (3.7%)	22 (1.4%)	16 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	59 (3.7%)	$9,748			$446			$9,301	70.3	67.5	38	3
460004101141	36	Britton-Hecla High School - 01	Public	9-12	759 5th St	Britton	57430	Marshall County	Britton-Hecla School District 45-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 448-2234	130	9	14	11.5%	116 (89.2%)	2 (1.5%)	1 (0.8%)	2 (1.5%)	3 (2.3%)	1 (0.8%)	5 (3.8%)	$10,105			$206			$9,898	70.2	30.8	101	65
468044000324	37	Highmore High School - 01	Public	9-12	415 Iowa Ave S	Highmore	57345	Hyde County	Highmore-Harrold 34-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 852-2275	57	8	7	17.5%	50 (87.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (8.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.5%)	$16,748			$1,224			$15,524	70.2	18.7	119	82
461056000109	38	Canton High School - 01	Public	9-12	800 N Main St	Canton	57013	Lincoln County	Canton School District 41-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 764-2706	283	19	15.1	10.2%	263 (92.9%)	4 (1.4%)	8 (2.8%)	1 (0.4%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	$10,527			$152			$10,374	68.8	58.9	59	21
467542000695	39	Wagner High School - 01	Public	9-12	101 Walnut Ave SW	Wagner	57380	Charles Mix County	Wagner Community School District 11-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 384-5426	180	17	10.4	100.0%	70 (38.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	77 (42.8%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (15.0%)	$15,767			$1,994			$13,773	68.6	57	61	22
462294000806	40	Faith High School - 01	Public	9-12	206 W 5th St	Faith	57626	Meade County	Faith School District 46-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 967-2152	80	6	13.6	32.5%	64 (80.0%)	2 (2.5%)	3 (3.8%)	2 (2.5%)	7 (8.8%)	1 (1.3%)	1 (1.3%)	$10,934			$441			$10,494	68.1	55.4	67	27

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 Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status 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 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:

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.