By Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight
The average South Dakota teacher salary increased by $3,125 between 2023 and 2024, or 5.87%, according to a recent state Department of Education report. Average teacher compensation, which includes salary and benefits, increased by 5.66%.
That’s enough to outpace the past year’s inflation rate and meet requirements set forth by the 2016 Legislature, which aimed to increase teacher salaries. The state ranked last in average teacher salary that year and currently ranks 49th, according to the National Education Association.
Despite the recent increases, the average South Dakota teacher’s purchasing power is still less than it was in 2017, when factoring in inflation since then. It also comes in below the 7% increase in state education funding lawmakers allocated for fiscal year 2024, which ran from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
South Dakota’s average teacher salary in 2017 was $47,096. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, that has the same buying power as $60,404.51 in June 2024, which was the end of the state’s fiscal year. The actual statewide average teacher salary in 2024 is $56,342.
Statewide average teacher compensation, which includes salary and benefits, increased from $60,687 in 2017 to $72,615 in 2024 — an increase of 19.66%.
This is the last year school districts will abide by the 2016 rules, which said school districts had to report average compensation at or above 2017 levels. All school districts met the requirements, based on the School Finance Accountability Board report presented at the board’s Friday meeting.
This year’s compensation sets the baseline for the teacher compensation accountability model passed by the Legislature last winter.
Beginning in July this year, the start of fiscal year 2025, each public school district must increase its average teacher compensation by at least 97% of the increase in state education funding. The requirement does not include additional money for schools beyond the regular, annual increases in state funding.
The Legislature increased state education funding by 4% in March, meaning districts must increase their average teacher compensation by nearly that much by next year to comply.
Beginning July 1, 2026, each school district must also pay each teacher at least the state minimum salary. That’s set at $45,000 this year and will increase each year equal to the increase in state education funding.
Opponents of the legislation were skeptical the new plan will provide enough flexibility for school districts and said it will have unintended consequences due to declining enrollment in public schools across the state, especially rural areas. As enrollment decreases in school districts, it means less state funding for districts to pay for salary increases and other costs.
Between 2023 and 2024, Plankinton reported the highest percentage increase in average teacher salary, from $49,542 to $59,098, or 16%. Six school districts saw a decrease in average teacher salary from 2023 to 2024: Pierre, Tripp-Delmont, Eagle Butte, Rosholt, Parker and Doland. Decreases in the average can be attributed to teacher retirements and younger, less experienced teachers being hired at lower salaries. The average teacher salary for each district was still above 2017.
Rapid City teachers have seen the lowest average teacher salary increases since 2017 at 5.24%, while Plankinton and Elk Mountain saw the highest average teacher salary increases during that period at 36.5% and 54.4%, respectively.
South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence.
