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

No. Use the Perkins 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 Perkins 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 Perkins County?

Start with the 6 listed public schools and 2 district entries, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Perkins County Schools & Education

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

Perkins County, South Dakota

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

School Score

52/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

86.7%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

86.7%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 82.4%

Per-Pupil Spending

$8,631

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,409

School Score

52/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 38/100

State Score Position

#16

of 65 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Perkins County

Measured School Summary

Perkins County performs at an average level with a school score of 52/100 and a solid graduation rate of 86.7%.

Funding Context

Perkins County spends $8,631 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 37% above the South Dakota average, and its graduation rate exceeds the state average by 4.3 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 16% higher than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Perkins 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

6 public schools and 2 districts 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

52/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #16 of 65 South Dakota counties with school score data.

Completion

86.7%

4.3 pts above the state average

Funding context

$8,631

$1,222 above the state average

School coverage

2 districts 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

Perkins County has 6 public schools across 2 districts, 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 Perkins 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

Perkins 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

#16

of 65 South Dakota counties with school score data. The county score is 14 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.

Lemmon School District 52-4

Elementary to high school visible

283 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

Bison School District 52-1

Elementary to high school visible

134 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

Bison School District 52-1 is the largest listed district slice, with 3 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 Perkins County?

Do the neighborhoods we like fall inside the same district, or are we comparing different Perkins County district systems?

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

Perkins County Composite School Score Surpasses State and National Benchmarks

Education data brief for Perkins County, South Dakota.

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

Lead metric:School score

Perkins County reports a composite school score of 52.2, which is higher than the South Dakota state average of 38.3 and the national median of 50.0. The county maintains a rural education system consisting of six schools and 417 total students, resulting in an average school size of just 70 students. The Lemmon School District 52-4 is the larger of the two districts, serving 283 students across three schools. The graduation rate for the county is 86.7%, nearly matching the national average of 87.0% and exceeding the state average of 82.4%. Per-pupil expenditure is $8,631, which is above the state's $7,409 average but below the national average of $13,000. The smallest school in the county, Bison High School, enrolls 43 students. Compare district boundaries before drawing conclusions.

Sources

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

School Overview

Total Schools

in Perkins County

Reported Enrollment

417

6 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary2

Middle2

High2

Other0

2 School Districts in Perkins County

Lemmon School District 52-4

3 schools

283 students

Bison School District 52-1

3 schools

134 students

6 Public Schools in Perkins 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

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Showing 6 of 6 matching schools

Public schools in Perkins County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Lemmon Elementary - 02	Record	Lemmon School District 52-4	Lemmon, 57638Rural: Remote	KG–6	Primary	141
Lemmon High School - 01	Record	Lemmon School District 52-4	Lemmon, 57638Rural: Remote	9–12	High	86
Bison Elementary - 02	Record	Bison School District 52-1	Bison, 57620Rural: Remote	KG–6	Primary	67
Lemmon Jr. High - 06	Record	Lemmon School District 52-4	Lemmon, 57638Rural: Remote	7–8	Middle	56
Bison High School - 01	Record	Bison School District 52-1	Bison, 57620Rural: Remote	9–12	High	43
Bison Jr. High - 04	Record	Bison School District 52-1	Bison, 57620Rural: Remote	7–8	Middle	24

Lemmon Elementary - 02

Lemmon School District 52-4

Lemmon, 57638 / Rural: Remote

RecordKG–6Primary141 students

Lemmon High School - 01

Lemmon School District 52-4

Lemmon, 57638 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High86 students

Bison Elementary - 02

Bison School District 52-1

Bison, 57620 / Rural: Remote

RecordKG–6Primary67 students

Lemmon Jr. High - 06

Lemmon School District 52-4

Lemmon, 57638 / Rural: Remote

Record7–8Middle56 students

Bison High School - 01

Bison School District 52-1

Bison, 57620 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High43 students

Bison Jr. High - 04

Bison School District 52-1

Bison, 57620 / Rural: Remote

Record7–8Middle24 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$8,631

State avg $7,409

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Perkins 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 Perkins County?

Perkins County has a school score of 52/100, 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 Perkins County?

The high school graduation rate in Perkins County is 86.7%, 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 Perkins County spend per student?

Perkins County spends $8,631 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

Faulk County

South Dakota

+0 pts

52/100

School score

Ziebach County

South Dakota

+1 pts

53/100

School score

Grant County

South Dakota

+1 pts

53/100

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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