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School district · South Dakota · LEAID 4606240

Bennett County School District 03-1

Bennett County School District 03-1 is in the smallest third by enrollment among comparable South Dakota districts (490 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Per-pupil spending, enrollment, and budget for Bennett County School District 03-1 come from the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 finance survey (FY2023).

$46,511
Est. avg teacher salary

Below benchmark

$20,588
Per-pupil spending
490
Students enrolled
18th
Pct. in SD
$46,511

Bennett County School District 03-1 is in the smallest third by enrollment among comparable South Dakota districts (490 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Estimated average teacher salary is $46,511, below the national average of $70,245, serving 490 students (NCES CCD F-33, FY2023).

  • Smaller enrollment scale: Bennett County School District 03-1 is in the smallest third by enrollment among comparable South Dakota districts (490 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort).
  • 18th percentile for South Dakota
  • 7th percentile nationally
  • 28% of spending reaches instructional salaries
  • South Dakota ranks #46 of 49 on the salary estimate and #42 of 49 on enrollment in the same reliable-district pool.
  • Bennett County School District 03-1 ranks #99 of 121 South Dakota districts by estimated teacher salary and #25 of 121 by per-pupil spending. Eagle Butte School District 20-1 leads both cuts in this pool; pay rank is still not spending rank
  • -4.3% estimated-basis panel FY2019→FY2023 (not applied to the FTE figure above)

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Instructional payroll mix vs South Dakota median

Among 148 South Dakota districts that break out F-33 program salary totals, Bennett County School District 03-1's instructional payroll puts 13.5% into special education , 3.8 points above the state median of 9.7%. That heavier special-education share usually means more of the teacher-salary pool is tied to IEP-driven staffing than at a typical South Dakota peer.

Program Bennett County SD median Gap
Regular program 78.6% 79.9% -1.4 pp
Special education 13.5% 9.7% +3.8 pp
Vocational programs 2.1% 5.1% -3.0 pp
Other programs 5.8% 5.1% +0.7 pp

Shares are of this district's reported F-33 teacher-salary program totals (Z35–Z38), compared with the median share across 148 in-state peers with a positive program sum. NCES LEAID 4606240 · FY2023.

LEAID 4606240 · NCES CCD F-33 FY2023

Bennett County F-33 compensation desk

SALARY-BELOW -8% vs state RANK-ST-LOW P18 in state RANK-NAT-LOW P7 national PPE-MID $21K/pupil ENR-TINY 490 students INSTR-LOW 28% instr BASIS-FTE FTE-reported PHOTO-NEAR Near Webster FY-2023-LIGHT FY2023 book

FY2023: $46,511 estimated average teacher salary · P18 in South Dakota · P7 nationally · 28% instructional salary share. Nearest salary peer: Chamberlain (+$546est. salary).

Salary neighbourhood chart for Bennett County

Salary neighbourhood · Bennett County

Bennett County trails most of its in-state peer set; the chart plots it against the top and bottom pay poles for context (NCES F-33 FY2023, not a full state reprint).

est. salary
Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey As of FY2023
Appropriate use & corrections
National salary distribution for Bennett County

Bennett County School District 03-1's estimated salary vs. every US district

NCES F-33 estimate, reliable-salary districts only

$46,511 7th percentile higher than 7% of 10,684 US districts

Show national distribution $30,000–$40,000: 155 US districts (1%). Below this entry. $40,000–$50,000: 1,360 US districts (13%). This entry sits in this band. $50,000–$60,000: 2,382 US districts (22%). Above this entry. $60,000–$70,000: 2,402 US districts (22%). Above this entry. $70,000–$80,000: 1,633 US districts (15%). Above this entry. $80,000–$90,000: 1,097 US districts (10%). Above this entry. $90,000–$100,000: 662 US districts (6%). Above this entry. $100,000–$110,000: 371 US districts (3%). Above this entry. $110,000–$120,000: 249 US districts (2%). Above this entry. $120,000–$130,000: 156 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $130,000–$140,000: 112 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $140,000–$150,000: 57 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $150,000–$160,000: 25 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $160,000–$170,000: 13 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $170,000–$180,000: 10 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $180,000–$190,000: 0 US districts (0%). Above this entry. This district $30,000 $190,000 every reliable-salary US district, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $10K-wide band; taller bars hold more US districts. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey, FY2023 · FY2023

Bennett County in South Dakota's lower-third pay band

Same 121 districts with a usable salary and a comparable per-pupil figure (NCES F-33 FY2023)

est. avg salary

What this shows Bennett County School District 03-1 ranks #99 of 121 South Dakota districts by estimated teacher salary and #25 of 121 by per-pupil spending. Eagle Butte School District 20-1 leads both cuts in this pool; pay rank is still not spending rank

Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey, FY2023 As of FY2023

The same districts by per-pupil spending

Bennett County School District 03-1 is marked; a high spending bar is not a high pay bar

per pupil

What this shows Eagle Butte School District 20-1 leads spending at $46,309 per pupil; Eagle Butte School District 20-1 leads pay.

Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey, FY2023 As of FY2023

What stands out about Bennett County School District 03-1

  • It ranks in the bottom 10% nationally for estimated teacher pay, above only 7% of districts.
  • Estimated teacher pay here moved -4.3% between FY2019 and FY2023, trailing South Dakota's statewide +10.1% by 14.4 points, a growth rate faster than 15% of the 146 South Dakota districts with a comparable FY2019 baseline.
  • Enrolment grew 8.2% here, from 453 students in FY2019 to 490 in FY2023, against a national picture where far more districts shrank than grew over the same period. Growth of this kind typically arrives before the funding that follows it, so per-pupil figures often dip while a district absorbs it.
  • It is a very small district (490 students), where the enrollment-based salary estimate is more sensitive to staffing mix.

This pay stretches further than the headline figure suggests

Nominal district estimate
$46,511.091

The FY2023 salary estimate shown in the hero.

South Dakota price level
88.1 / 100

BEA all-items regional price parity; 100 is the U.S. average.

National-price equivalent
$52,764

+13% versus the nominal figure.

Prices in South Dakota run below the national average, so this salary has roughly the buying power of the national-price equivalent above. A district in a costlier state can advertise a larger nominal salary and still leave a teacher with less.

Regional price parity: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2023 all-items RPP by state. The adjustment applies a statewide index to a district figure, so it captures how South Dakota compares nationally, not how this district compares with others in its own state. Compare every state on this basis.

How this salary figure is calculated
Full NCES reading for Bennett County School District 03-1

What the Numbers Say About Bennett County School District 03-1

Bennett County School District 03-1 is a small school district in South Dakota, serving 490 students at an estimated per-pupil spending of $20,588. Estimated average teacher salary, derived from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by teacher FTE, is $46,511, placing the district in the high-investment tier of NCES F-33 respondents. NCES LEAID 4606240 references the FY2023 Common Core of Data Local Education Agency Finance Survey.

Relative to the South Dakota statewide average of $50,422, teacher pay in Bennett County School District 03-1 runs materially below the state benchmark, a 7.8% gap, and below the national instructional-salary estimate of $70,245 (33.8% differential). Among enrolling districts in South Dakota, it pays more than 18% of them. South Dakota itself ranks #46 of 49 nationally on average teacher compensation, which shapes the funding ceiling districts operate under.

On the budget side, Bennett County School District 03-1 reports $10.1M in total expenditure against $12.2M in revenue, with instructional salaries accounting for 28% of spending, a compensation-to-budget ratio that signals how much of each tax dollar reaches classroom educators. Regular-program teacher salary outlay is $1.6M, special-education teacher pay is $0.3M.

How does Bennett County School District 03-1 compare?

Estimated average teacher salary versus a peer district, the South Dakota average, and the national average. Pick any in-state district to compare.

Bennett County School District 03-1 $46,511
Sioux Falls School District 49-5 $54,143
South Dakota avg $50,422
National avg $70,245

Bennett County School District 03-1 pays -14.1% less than Sioux Falls School District 49-5 · per-pupil $20,588 vs $13,239

Derived from NCES F-33 teacher salary expenditure (Z35-Z38) and CCD Staff Universe teacher FTE (FY2023); a small minority use the documented fallback. Unreliable service entities are excluded.

Data-derived comparison paths

Find comparable South Dakota districts

On pay, Bennett County School District 03-1 sits closest to Webster Area 18-5; on per-pupil investment, its nearest match is Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1. These are not simply nearby districts: each group is selected from the same NCES FY2023 dataset using a matching salary or per-pupil-investment signal and a comparable enrollment range.

Closest on estimated pay
  1. Webster Area 18-5
  2. Northwestern Area School District 56-7
  3. Waverly School District 14-5
  4. Scotland School District 04-3
  5. Clark School District 12-2
  6. Haakon School District 27-1
  7. Alcester-Hudson School District 61-1
  8. Chamberlain School District 07-1
  9. Woonsocket School District 55-4
  10. New Underwood School District 51-3
  11. Castlewood School District 28-1
Closest on per-pupil investment
  1. Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1
  2. Platte - Geddes School District 11-5
  3. Gregory School District 26-4
  4. White River School District 47-1
  5. Andes Central School District 11-1
  6. Harding County School District 31-1
  7. Kimball School District 07-2
  8. Wagner Community School District 11-4
  9. Arlington School District 38-1
  10. Wessington Springs School District 36-2
  11. Avon School District 04-1

Similar estimated teacher pay

Similar per-pupil investment

Out-of-state districts near Bennett County School District 03-1's smaller enrollment

Two out-of-state peer sets for Bennett County School District 03-1: closest on enrollment (490 students here) and closest on estimated average teacher salary ($46,511 here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood.

Similar enrollment

Nearest other districts by NCES student count (floored at ≥200).

Similar estimated salary

Nearest other districts by F-33-derived average teacher salary, distinct from the enrollment row.

Enrollment and salaries from NCES CCD F-33; estimated teacher pay can diverge widely at the same student count because of state funding, cost of living, and local bargaining.

Revenue & Expenditure

$12.2M
Total Revenue
$10.1M
Total Expenditure
$2.9M
Instruction Salaries
28% of total spending

Instructional Salary by Program

$1.6M
Regular Program
$0.3M
Special Education
$0.0M
Vocational
$0.1M
Other Programs

The teacher salaries behind this page's average are the ones NCES reports for 4 programs in Bennett County School District 03-1: the regular program, special education, vocational programs and other programs. Every program category NCES breaks out separately carries a figure here. Together they are 70% of everything the district spends on instructional salaries; the other 30% pays instructional aides, paraprofessionals, substitutes and other instructional staff who are not counted as teachers here.

South Dakota Teacher Pay Overview

The highest average among comparably sized South Dakota districts belongs to Douglas School District 51-1 at $61,738. Placed 46 of 50, Bennett County School District 03-1 is in the lower quarter, where a state-average comparison flatters the district rather than describing it. North Dakota and Oklahoma are the states closest to South Dakota on BEA's price parity, which makes them the fair comparison; against a costlier state this salary goes further than its number suggests.

View all South Dakota districts →

Other South Dakota Districts

Smaller-district sample from 120 South Dakota peers; bar length shows pay magnitude within this enrollment band.

Northwestern Area School District 56-7
$46,459
336 students
Castlewood School District 28-1
$45,819
334 students
Bridgewater-Emery 30-3
$50,050
333 students
Kadoka Area School District 35-2
$48,163
328 students
De Smet School District 38-2
$48,732
327 students
Willow Lake School District 12-3
$51,518
323 students

This is a sample of 6 from 120 South Dakota districts with enrollment and salary data reliable enough to compare in the NCES CCD F-33 survey.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bennett County School District 03-1
What is the average teacher salary in Bennett County School District 03-1?

The average teacher salary in Bennett County School District 03-1 is $46,511 (NCES CCD FY2023), from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by the district's reported teacher headcount (NCES CCD Staff Universe Survey).

How does Bennett County School District 03-1 teacher pay compare to the South Dakota average?

Bennett County School District 03-1 pays 7.8% less than the South Dakota state average of $50,422. The district's average is $46,511.

How does Bennett County School District 03-1 teacher pay compare to the national average?

Bennett County School District 03-1 pays 33.8% below the national average of $70,245. The district average is $46,511.

What is the per-pupil spending in Bennett County School District 03-1?

Bennett County School District 03-1 spends approximately $20,588 per student annually (NCES FY2023), covering instructional salaries, support services, and administration.

What percentage of Bennett County School District 03-1's budget goes to teacher salaries?

Instructional salaries account for 28% of Bennett County School District 03-1's total expenditure of $10.1M (NCES FY2023).

Next read for Bennett County School District 03-1
Disclaimer & data sources

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainTeacher

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Editorial standards & source notes

According to the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, PlainTeacher's figures are computed directly, no number is typed in by an editor. Bennett County School District 03-1's salary and finance figures are computed directly from its FY2023 F-33 submission, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Data current as of FY2023.