Huron
14,000 Native Students, 17 Years of Standing Still
South Dakota enrolled 14,477 Native American students in 2008. In 2025, the number was 14,283. That is 194 fewer students over 17 years, a decline of 1.3%.
South Dakota Schools Lost 13 Points of White Share in 17 Years
In the 2007-08 school year, roughly 82 of every 100 students in South Dakota's public schools were white. By 2024-25, that figure had fallen to 69. The 13.2 percentage-point drop did not happen becaus...
Huron: 80% White to 38% in 17 Years
In 2008, four out of five students in the Huron School District were white. By 2025, white students were a 38.3% minority in their own schools, outnumbered by the combined enrollment of Hispanic and A...
Rapid City Hits Its Lowest Enrollment on Record
In the 2024-25 school year, South Dakota's statewide enrollment stood 6.9% higher than it did 13 years ago. Its second-largest school district moved in the opposite direction. Rapid City Area Schools ...
One in 11 South Dakota Students Is Now Hispanic
In 2007-08, Hispanic students made up 2.7% of South Dakota's public school enrollment. One in 37 students. A rounding error in a state where white students held an 81.9% supermajority and Native Ameri...
South Dakota's 13-Year Growth Streak Is Over
Correction (March 15, 2026): An earlier version of this article stated Sioux Falls had shed 283 students since its 2023 peak of 25,228; the 283 figure was actually the loss since 2022, not the 2023 pe...
South Dakota Publishes 2024-25 Enrollment Data
For 12 consecutive years, South Dakota public schools grew. Every single year, from 2008 through 2019, the state added students — 17,058 in total, a 13.9% increase powered by Sioux Falls metro housing...