Beta You're viewing our redesigned school list. Prefer the classic layout?

Best Public Schools in Zip Code 57720

New rankings! South Dakota test scores for the 2025-26 school year were just released — SchoolDigger posted updated rankings this week.

Be the first to know when we post new rankings!

At a glance

Schools

227

Students

Top rankedHarding County High School - 0161^st of 130 South Dakota high schools

▲

Biggest riser

Buffalo Elementary - 02 up 6 spots statewide this year

See the top-ranked South Dakota schools →

Summary:

The 57720 area has three schools serving kindergarten through grade 12, with 227 students: 101 at Buffalo Elementary, 60 at Harding County Middle, and 66 at Harding County High. Across the elementary and middle schools, English language arts (ELA) is relatively solid: their average is 51%, 2 points above the state result. The clearest area-wide concern is math, where their average is 37%, 7 points below the state.

Buffalo Elementary leads the middle school in both comparable all-grade subjects: its ELA result is 52% versus 51%, and its math result is 43% versus 31%. Its grade 4 scores are a notable exception to stronger results in grades 3 and 5, falling 16 points below the state in ELA and 28 points below in math. Harding County Middle has a bright spot in grade 8 ELA, 8 points above the state, but its math is below the state in all three tested grades by 11 to 13 points. Harding County High is above the state in 11th-grade ELA and science by 7 and 5 points, respectively, but below in math by 6 points. SchoolDigger’s statewide rankings put the high school highest at the 53rd percentile and the middle school lowest at the 34th; the elementary school is at the 40th percentile.

Recent results show a sharper shared decline in math than in ELA: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Buffalo’s math fell 8 points and the middle school’s fell 25, while their average shifted from 10 points above the state to 7 below. ELA moved in opposite directions—up 1 point at Buffalo and down 9 at the middle school—and the two-school average advantage over the state narrowed from 5 points to 2. These comparisons have limits because grade spans and tested grades differ, and the high school’s reported exam changed between years. As context, for school year 2024–2025, free/reduced-lunch-eligible shares were 26% at Buffalo, 33% at the middle school, and 23% at the high school; student-teacher ratios were 10.3, 15.0, and 9.5, respectively. The high school also reports a 100% graduation rate, compared with 88% statewide.

Load more schools when map is moved

Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Vaccination Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				SD ACT English Language Arts (2026)	SD ACT Mathematics (2026)	SD ACT Science (2026)	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts (2026)							Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2026)							Smarter Balanced Assessments Science (2026)		Vaccination (2025-26)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SD ACT English Language Arts 11th Grade	SD ACT Mathematics 11th Grade	SD ACT Science 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 8th Grade	Vaccination: Kindergartners immunized against measles (MMR)	Vaccination: Exemption rate	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Buffalo Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	12474 Tipperary St	Buffalo	57720	Harding County	Harding County School District 31-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 375-3241	101	10	10.3	25.7%	96 (95.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	3 (3.0%)	47.6	121^st of 203 public elementary schools	40.4%		59.6	127^th of 300 public elementary schools	57.7%	6				58.8	31.6	66.7				51.9	52.9	21.1	55.6				42.6	38.9		63.2%	21.1%	$16,820	$875	$15,945
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%)	52.6	61^st of 130 public high schools	53.1%		85	14^th of 166 public high schools	91.6%	47	55.6	27.8	50.0																			$18,767	$853	$17,914
Harding County Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	12474 Tipperary St	Buffalo	57720	Harding County	Harding County School District 31-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 375-3241	60	4	15.0	33.3%	60 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40.3	100^th of 151 public middle schools	33.8%		73.7	40^th of 246 public middle schools	83.7%	60							40.0	47.6	60.0	51.0				30.0	33.3	30.0	31.4		40.0			$15,120	$528	$14,592

Cities Near Zip Code 57720

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank	Rank (0-5)
Buffalo	7.66 mi	3	32^nd

See the top SD South Dakota cities

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.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.