Can I use Mellette County's school score to choose a house?

No. Use the Mellette County school score as a first-pass county screen, then verify the exact district, attendance boundary, transfer rules, and grade pathway for any address you are considering.

Does SchoolsByCounty confirm school attendance boundaries in Mellette County?

No. SchoolsByCounty publishes NCES and Census-backed public-school records. Attendance zones, magnet eligibility, charter lotteries, transportation, and transfer rules must be confirmed with local districts.

How should parents compare public schools in Mellette County?

Start with the 5 listed public schools and 1 district entry, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Mellette County Schools & Education

Name: Mellette County, South Dakota Education Data
Creator: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Mellette County, South Dakota

NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data

School Score

40/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

69.0%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

69.0%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 82.4%

Per-Pupil Spending

$9,166

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,409

School Score

40/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 38/100

State Score Position

#30

of 65 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Mellette County

Measured School Summary

Mellette County has midrange measured school signals (score: 40/100) with a graduation rate of 69.0%, which warrants review in official state and district records.

Funding Context

Mellette County spends $9,166 per student, which is on the lower end of adequate and may require careful resource allocation to maintain quality.

Neighbor Context

Its school score is 6% above the South Dakota average, and its graduation rate trails the state average by 13.4 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 24% higher than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Mellette County before comparing districts

County-level education data is best used as a screening layer. It summarizes the local school environment, then points you toward the district and school records that matter for local review.

Local context that changes the interpretation

5 public schools and 1 district are represented below. Use those school and district records to confirm whether the county-level context fits the neighborhoods you are actually considering.

Overall screen

40/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #30 of 65 South Dakota counties with school score data.

Completion

69.0%

13.4 pts below the state average

Funding context

$9,166

$1,757 above the state average

School coverage

1 district represented in the county school list.

Start with measured county context

This county needs a closer look at district mix, school level, and local context. Compare the score, graduation rate, and spending together rather than treating any single metric as final.

Check the local school mix

Mellette County has 5 public schools across 1 district, so school-level fit can vary inside the county.

Verify local rules

Use this page as county-level context, then confirm attendance zones, transportation, special programs, and current school boundaries with local districts.

View Public Schools Compare Counties

Parent decision brief

What Mellette County school data means before you move

County averages are useful for screening, but parents choose addresses, grade pathways, and district rules. This brief turns the public data into the checks that matter before you sign a lease or mortgage.

Small-system county

Mellette County has a compact public-school footprint. A single school change, boundary rule, or district update can move the lived experience more than the county score suggests.

State position

#30

of 65 South Dakota counties with school score data. The county score is 2 points above the state average.

Data confidence

Usable

3 of 5 county signals are present, and 100% of listed schools report enrollment. Compare schools, then verify missing fields locally.

K-12 continuity check

These are the largest visible district slices in the county data. They show whether elementary, middle, and high school records appear together or whether a family needs to investigate transition points.

White River School District 47-1

Elementary to high school visible

419 students

Elementary 2Middle 1High 1Other 0

4 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

White River School District 47-1 is the largest listed district slice, with 4 schools. County pages do not prove address assignment, so verify boundaries with local district tools.

What the data cannot tell you

NCES records do not confirm current attendance zones, private-school options, transfer approvals, program capacity, transportation, or whether a listed school is available to a specific address.

Questions to ask before choosing an address

Which district actually serves the addresses we are considering in Mellette County?

Which attendance zones, transfer rules, and transportation policies apply inside the local district?

What changes at the elementary-to-middle and middle-to-high transitions in the district pathway we would likely use?

If we need a program not visible in the NCES flags, which district office can confirm current offerings?

Are the largest listed schools the ones our address can actually attend, or are they only county-level context?

Data Story

Mellette County Graduation Rate Stands at Sixty-Nine Percent

Education data brief for Mellette County, South Dakota.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorPublished Jul 7, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Lead metric:Graduation rate

Mellette County’s most distinctive metric is its 69.0% graduation rate, which is considerably lower than the South Dakota average of 82.4% and the national rate of 87.0%. The county's public schools are consolidated under the White River School District 47-1, which manages 419 students across five rural schools. The largest of these is White River Elementary, with 165 students. While the graduation rate is lower than state norms, the county’s composite school score of 40.4 is higher than the state average of 38.3. Per-pupil spending is $9,166, which exceeds the state average of $7,409 but is below the national average of $13,000. The average school size in the county is 105 students, and there are no charter schools. Educational outcomes in the county are reported based on these five rural locations. Compare district boundaries before drawing conclusions.

Sources

NCES Common Core of Data
U.S. Census Bureau ACS

School Overview

Total Schools

in Mellette County

Reported Enrollment

419

5 schools reporting

School Districts

district

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary3

Middle1

High1

Other0

1 School District in Mellette County

White River School District 47-1

4 schools

419 students enrolled

5 Public Schools in Mellette County

Sorted by reported enrollment. Every NCES public school remains listed here; no school-level profile pages are included in the current generated coverage for this county.

NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data

Search schools

Level

Sort

Showing 5 of 5 matching schools

Public schools in Mellette County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
White River Elementary - 02	Record	White River School District 47-1	White River, 57579Rural: Remote	PK–5	Primary	165
White River High School - 01	Record	White River School District 47-1	White River, 57579Rural: Remote	9–12	High	119
White River Middle School - 04	Record	White River School District 47-1	White River, 57579Rural: Remote	6–8	Middle	90
Norris Elementary - 08	Record	White River School District 47-1	White River, 57579Rural: Remote	KG–5	Primary	45
Wood Elementary - 05	Record	Colome Consolidated 59-3	Colome, 57528Rural: Remote	KG–8	Primary	0

White River Elementary - 02

White River School District 47-1

White River, 57579 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–5Primary165 students

White River High School - 01

White River School District 47-1

White River, 57579 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High119 students

White River Middle School - 04

White River School District 47-1

White River, 57579 / Rural: Remote

Record6–8Middle90 students

Norris Elementary - 08

White River School District 47-1

White River, 57579 / Rural: Remote

RecordKG–5Primary45 students

Wood Elementary - 05

Colome Consolidated 59-3

Colome, 57528 / Rural: Remote

RecordKG–8Primary0 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$9,166

State avg $7,409

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Mellette County against other counties using the same NCES-backed metrics.

Open Compare

Browse Public Schools

See school-level enrollment, grade ranges, school type, and district affiliation.

View Schools

Frequently Asked Questions

Which South Dakota counties have the highest graduation rates?

Deuel County (95.0%), Stanley County (95.0%), and Hamlin County (92.8%) currently lead South Dakota among counties with available NCES four-year adjusted cohort graduation-rate data. This answer is generated from the same dataset used in the county table and can change when federal data refreshes.

What is per-pupil spending like in South Dakota?

Across South Dakota counties with available NCES district-finance data, average per-pupil spending is $7,409. The highest current county values are Ziebach County ($13,420), Corson County ($10,486), and Sully County ($10,373). Compare counties in the table before treating the statewide average as representative of a local district.

How should I read the school score in Mellette County?

Mellette County has a school score of 40/100, which is a midrange measured signal in this county-level index. This score is calculated from available NCES graduation-rate and school-finance data, with school-level records shown separately below.

What is the graduation rate in Mellette County?

The high school graduation rate in Mellette County is 69.0%, which is below the national average of 87.5%. This figure is based on NCES district-level data for public high schools in the county.

How much does Mellette County spend per student?

Mellette County spends $9,166 per pupil annually on public education, based on NCES district finance data. Current operating spending per fall enrollment, including instruction, support services, administration, transportation, and operations. It excludes capital outlays and debt service in the SchoolsByCounty methodology.

Counties with Similar School Profile

Bon Homme County

South Dakota

+0 pts

41/100

School score

Hamlin County

South Dakota

-0 pts

40/100

School score

McPherson County

South Dakota

+0 pts

41/100

School score

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Jul 7, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Data Sources

Education data sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data and School District Finance Survey. School scores are derived composite metrics based on available NCES graduation-rate and school-finance signals.

Data is informational only. Coverage varies by county and reporting year. Not for use as the sole basis for educational decisions.

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