Research · High schools - South Dakota · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in South Dakota? 187 Public and 23 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in South Dakota? 187 Public and 23 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: South Dakota has 210 high schools: 187 public and 23 private. The largest is Central High School - 41 in Rapid City, with 1,998 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in South Dakota by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The findings, in plain English

South Dakota has 210 high schools. 187 are public and 23 are private. The 174 public high schools that report enrollment hold 41,374 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Central High School - 41 is the largest public high school in South Dakota. It enrolls 1,998 students in grades 9 through 12 in Rapid City. The 15th largest school on the table, Huron High School - 01 in Huron, enrolls 852. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in South Dakota is Great Plains Lutheran High School. It enrolls 133 students in Watertown. That is smaller than every public school on the table above. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school.

The 15 largest public high schools in South Dakota

Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Central High School - 41	Rapid City	1,998	No
Lincoln High School - 02	Sioux Falls	1,954	No
Jefferson High School - 67	Sioux Falls	1,888	No
Washington High School - 01	Sioux Falls	1,819	No
Harrisburg High School - 01	Harrisburg	1,806	No
Roosevelt High School - 03	Sioux Falls	1,785	No
Stevens High School - 42	Rapid City	1,771	No
Central High School - 01	Aberdeen	1,384	No
Brandon Valley High School - 01	Brandon	1,381	No
Watertown High School - 01	Watertown	1,222	No
Brookings High School - 01	Brookings	979	No
Yankton High School - 01	Yankton	923	No
Mitchell High School - 01	Mitchell	879	No
T F Riggs High School - 01	Pierre	855	No
Huron High School - 01	Huron	852	No

NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.

The largest private high schools in South Dakota

Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.

High school	City	Students
Great Plains Lutheran High School	Watertown	133
Education & Integration Services	Sioux Falls	27

NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.

What these counts cover

A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.

Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count.

Private high schools in South Dakota

The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.

Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other.

What a family should do with this

Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.

The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each South Dakota high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building.

Questions parents ask

How many high schools are in South Dakota?

South Dakota has 210 high schools: 187 public and 23 private. The largest is Central High School - 41 in Rapid City, with 1,998 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in South Dakota?

It enrolls 1,998 students in grades 9 through 12 in Rapid City.

Are private high schools included in the South Dakota count?

187 are public and 23 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Method & sources: Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.

This brief as data: /research/high-schools-in-south-dakota.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).