South Dakota · NCES F-33 finance data
Highest Spending Districts in South Dakota The 49 South Dakota districts that spend the most per student, ranked from NCES F-33 finance data (2021-22). Only districts enrolling 500 or more students are included.
$21,648 Top per-pupil spend
$11,371 Avg across top 49
49 Districts listed The spending picture in one line
Oglala Lakota County 65-1 spends $21,648 per student, the most of any South Dakota district listed, against an average of $11,371 across the top 49.
$21,648 top spend (Oglala Lakota County 65-1)
$8,726 lowest on this list
2.5× spread across the listed districts
1,797 students in the top district # District Enrollment Schools Per-Pupil $ 1 Oglala Lakota County 65-1 Batesland 1,797 6 $21,648 2 Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1 Lead 736 4 $17,339 3 Todd County School District 66-1 Mission 2,047 13 $16,334 4 Wagner Community School District 11-4 Wagner 905 4 $14,978 5 Chamberlain School District 07-1 Chamberlain 851 3 $13,938 6 Custer School District 16-1 Custer 911 4 $13,911 7 Platte - Geddes School District 11-5 Platte 512 5 $12,846 8 Sisseton School District 54-2 Sisseton 979 3 $12,465 9 Douglas School District 51-1 Box Elder 2,750 5 $12,366 10 Milbank School District 25-4 Milbank 1,033 4 $12,179 11 Flandreau School District 50-3 Flandreau 694 4 $12,104 12 Canton School District 41-1 Canton 874 3 $11,924 13 Groton Area School District 06-6 Groton 597 3 $11,736 14 Bon Homme School District 04-2 Tyndall 589 8 $11,544 15 Beresford School District 61-2 Beresford 708 3 $11,271 16 Parkston School District 33-3 Parkston 562 7 $11,231 17 Huron School District 02-2 Huron 2,906 10 $11,193 18 Rapid City Area School District 51-4 Rapid City 12,747 27 $11,191 19 Mobridge-Pollock 62-6 Mobridge 571 4 $11,177 20 Elk Point-Jefferson School District 61-7 Elk Point 688 3 $11,110 21 Tri-Valley School District 49-6 Colton 945 3 $11,057 22 Winner School District 59-2 Winner 814 3 $11,049 23 Brookings School District 05-1 Brookings 3,431 6 $11,042 24 Deuel School District 19-4 Clear Lake 544 3 $10,946 25 Webster Area 18-5 Webster 551 3 $10,803 26 Sioux Falls School District 49-5 Sioux Falls 25,123 43 $10,788 27 Dell Rapids School District 49-3 Dell Rapids 982 3 $10,597 28 Madison Central School District 39-2 Madison 1,147 3 $10,513 29 Belle Fourche School District 09-1 Belle Fourche 1,329 5 $10,486 30 Dakota Valley School District 61-8 North Sioux City 1,387 4 $10,430 31 Harrisburg School District 41-2 Harrisburg 5,912 10 $10,402 32 Yankton School District 63-3 Yankton 3,036 6 $10,365 33 Sioux Valley School District 05-5 Volga 739 3 $10,296 34 Redfield School District 56-4 Redfield 555 6 $10,294 35 Mitchell School District 17-2 Mitchell 2,722 9 $10,109 36 Lennox School District 41-4 Lennox 1,211 5 $10,086 37 Pierre School District 32-2 Pierre 2,762 5 $9,982 38 Vermillion School District 13-1 Vermillion 1,436 4 $9,973 39 Hot Springs School District 23-2 Hot Springs 772 3 $9,971 40 Aberdeen School District 06-1 Aberdeen 4,326 10 $9,917 41 Spearfish School District 40-2 Spearfish 2,423 7 $9,880 42 West Central School District 49-7 Hartford 1,412 6 $9,843 43 Brandon Valley School District 49-2 Brandon 4,948 12 $9,822 44 Chester Area School District 39-1 Chester 576 7 $9,721 45 Baltic School District 49-1 Baltic 608 3 $9,550 46 Watertown School District 14-4 Watertown 3,803 10 $9,475 47 Meade School District 46-1 Sturgis 3,058 11 $9,446 48 Hamlin School District 28-3 Hayti 870 3 $9,103 49 Tea Area School District 41-5 Tea 2,361 6 $8,726
Explore More for South Dakota Methodology
Per-pupil expenditure data comes from the NCES F-33 Finance Survey. Only districts with
500 or more students are included to ensure meaningful comparisons. Spending figures
include all current operational expenditures divided by total enrollment.
Read our methodology
— how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.