South Dakota Teacher Salaries

What does the NCES F-33 data show for South Dakota?

South Dakota reports 148 public school districts in the NCES Common Core of Data FY2022 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, with an estimated average teacher salary of $67,949. That places the state in the lower third of US teacher-pay rankings — #38 of 51, materially below the national F-33 estimate of $82,292 (-17.4%). The state's public schools serve 140,757 students across these districts.

Among enrolling districts, pay varies widely: Eagle Butte School District 20-1 reports the highest estimated average salary at $190,913, while Castlewood School District 28-1 sits at the lower end at $48,052 — a spread of $142,861 between top and bottom reporting districts. Licensing rules, state aid formulas, collective bargaining density, and local tax bases all drive this intra-state variation. Urban and suburban districts with larger tax bases typically lead, while rural districts often lag despite lower cost of living.

Teacher compensation here reflects both state policy choices — the statutory minimum salary schedule, pension funding levels, licensure reciprocity — and the funding formula that determines how much state aid each district receives per pupil. A #38 national rank signals where South Dakota sits in the competition for teachers against neighboring states; teacher shortage areas typically correlate with lower pay rank. Figures below are per-district estimates derived from the F-33 instructional salary expenditure field (Z33) divided by estimated teacher FTE — a district-level aggregate, not individual salary records.