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
71	Vermillion High School - 01	Public	9-12	1001 E Main St	Vermillion	57069	Clay County	Vermillion School District 13-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 677-7035	413	28	15	26.2%	310 (75.1%)	9 (2.2%)	22 (5.3%)	3 (0.7%)	38 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (7.5%)	$13,012			$646			$12,366	60.4	53.3	70	1		467437000691
72	Hoven High School - 01	Public	9-12	98 5th Ave W	Hoven	57450	Potter County	Hoven School District 53-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 948-2252	29	5	5.5	31.0%	28 (96.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								60.4			(n/a)		463460000298
73	Colman-Egan High School - 01	Public	9-12	200 S Loban Ave	Colman	57017	Moody County	Colman-Egan School District 50-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 534-3534	100	7	14.5	18.0%	85 (85.0%)	3 (3.0%)	7 (7.0%)	1 (1.0%)	2 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.0%)	$12,142			$355			$11,788	59.9	34.6	96	23		461410000091
74	Leola High School - 01	Public	9-12	820 Leola Ave	Leola	57456	McPherson County	Leola School District 44-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 439-3477	38	5	7	44.7%	31 (81.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (13.2%)								58.6			(n/a)		464164000391
75	Washington High School - 01	Public	9-12	501 N Sycamore Ave	Sioux Falls	57110	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 367-7970	1,819	120	15.1	53.4%	852 (46.8%)	374 (20.6%)	298 (16.4%)	91 (5.0%)	60 (3.3%)	3 (0.2%)	141 (7.8%)	$12,328			$617			$11,711	58.4	66.4	44	31		466627000610
76	Herreid High School - 01	Public	9-12	302 Main St N	Herreid	57632	Campbell County	Herreid School District 10-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 437-2263	35	4	8.4	22.9%	32 (91.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								58.3	76	30	46		463243000278
77	Lemmon High School - 01	Public	9-12	314 8th St W	Lemmon	57638	Perkins County	Lemmon School District 52-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 374-3762	97	9	10.9	33.0%	88 (90.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (5.2%)	$14,226			$551			$13,675	58.2	60.6	54	23		464152000382
78	Stanley County High School - 01	Public	9-12	10 E Main Ave	Fort Pierre	57532	Stanley County	Stanley County School District 57-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 223-7743	142	10	13.7	26.1%	112 (78.9%)	1 (0.7%)	1 (0.7%)	1 (0.7%)	17 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (7.0%)	$13,025			$347			$12,678	57.5	6.8	129	51		462485000217
79	Burke High School - 01	Public	9-12	900 Washington St	Burke	57523	Gregory County	Burke School District 26-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 775-2645	94	8	12.1	41.5%	88 (93.6%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,397			$626			$17,771	57	59.7	56	23		460951200101
80	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	1,806	127	14.2	16.0%	1,511 (83.7%)	74 (4.1%)	81 (4.5%)	27 (1.5%)	16 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	96 (5.3%)	$11,474			$382			$11,092	56.6	70.3	35	45		463135000264

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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.