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
81	Watertown High School - 01	Public	9-12	200 NE 9th St	Watertown	57201	Codington County	Watertown School District 14-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 882-6316	1,222	73	16.8	30.1%	997 (81.6%)	5 (0.4%)	99 (8.1%)	8 (0.7%)	44 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (5.6%)	$10,121			$410			$9,711	56.5	50.2	75	6		467662000717
82	Gregory High School - 01	Public	9-12	505 Logan St	Gregory	57533	Gregory County	Gregory School District 26-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 835-9672	117	11	10.5	35.9%	101 (86.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (12.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,858			$499			$13,358	56	40.1	90	8		462988000239
83	Belle Fourche High School - 01	Public	9-12	1301 12th Ave	Belle Fourche	57717	Butte County	Belle Fourche School District 09-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 723-3350	389	27	14.5	32.1%	336 (86.4%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (8.7%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.1%)	$10,921			$452			$10,468	55.8	50.3	74	9		460561000038
84	Edmunds Central High School - 01	Public	9-12	105 1st Ave	Roscoe	57471	Edmunds County	Edmunds Central School District 22-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 287-4251	43	4	10.5	30.2%	39 (90.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (7.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								54.8			(n/a)		463444000031
85	Woonsocket High School - 01	Public	9-12	101 N 2nd Ave	Woonsocket	57385	Sanborn County	Woonsocket School District 55-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 796-4431	91	7	12.3	30.8%	86 (94.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,853			$712			$16,141	54.7	17.4	118	33		468019000790
86	Lead-Deadwood High School - 01	Public	9-12	320 S Main St	Lead	57754	Lawrence County	Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 717-3899	211	20	10.7	19.4%	180 (85.3%)	2 (0.9%)	12 (5.7%)	2 (0.9%)	9 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.8%)	$18,749			$535			$18,214	54.4	40.8	88	2		464130000374
87	Webster Area High School - 01	Public	9-12	733 E 2nd St	Webster	57274	Day County	Webster Area School District 18-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 345-3548	164	12	13.5	19.5%	148 (90.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	5 (3.0%)	1 (0.6%)	9 (5.5%)	$12,287			$335			$11,952	52.9	61.9	49	38		467699000724
88	Tri-Valley High School - 01	Public	9-12	46474 252nd St	Colton	57018	Minnehaha County	Tri-Valley School District 49-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 446-3538	297	20	15.2	14.5%	263 (88.6%)	13 (4.4%)	15 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.3%)	$12,269			$232			$12,037	52.4	62.6	47	41		464494000405
89	Lyman High School - 01	Public	9-12	201 S Birch Ave	Presho	57568	Lyman County	Lyman School District 42-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 895-2662	80	10	8	41.3%	54 (67.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (27.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.0%)	$21,708			$2,211			$19,497	52.3	13.7	123	34		464477000398
90	Tripp-Delmont High School - 01	Public	9-12	105 S Sloan	Tripp	57376	Hutchinson County	Tripp-Delmont School District 33-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 935-6766	33	6	5.4	51.5%	29 (87.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (3.0%)	1 (3.0%)	2 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								51.5			(n/a)		467245000050

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.