Track Every Dollar

South Dakota: every school dollar

Where South Dakota's public school money comes from, where it goes, what Washington sends, and how the state spends its lottery money. Select any line for more.

Public school money, 2023-24$2.3 billion
Spent per student, day to day$12,828U.S.: $17,619
Students140,930148 school systems
Lottery money to educationLottery money goes to other purposes

Where the money comes from

$2.3 billion in the 2023-24 school year. Select federal, state or local to see every line.

Federal 19%State 31%Local 50%

Federal $451 million19.4%

All other federal money$183 million40.6%
Impact Aid$107 million23.8%
Title I: schools with many low-income families$56.1 million12.4%
School meals$41.8 million9.3%
Special education (IDEA)$38.0 million8.4%
Teacher and principal training (Title II)$10.2 million2.3%
Student support and enrichment (Title IV-A)$5.9 million1.3%
Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native education$3.4 million0.8%
Rural schools$2.0 million0.4%
Career and technical education$1.9 million0.4%
After-school programs (21st Century)$669,0000.1%
English learners (Title III)$668,0000.1%

Inside the federal total: $165 million of pandemic relief (ESSER and related funds), which ended in 2024.

State $713 million30.7%

General formula aid$611 million85.8%
Special education$84.3 million11.8%
Paid by the state for the district (benefits and other costs)$13.3 million1.9%
All other state money$2.5 million0.4%
Staff improvement$989,0000.1%
School meals$155,000under 0.1%

Local $1.2 billion49.9%

Property taxes$974 million84.1%
Interest, rents, donations and other$89.4 million7.7%
Tuition, fees, meals and other charges$66.7 million5.8%
Other local taxes (sales, utility, income)$26.5 million2.3%
From cities and counties$1.4 million0.1%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finances: Fiscal Year 2024. School year 2023-24. census.gov the data file

Where it goes

$2.5 billion spent. Select support services for every line.

Teaching (instruction)$1.1 billion43.1%
Support services Details$660 million26.8%
- Running and maintaining buildings$188 million28.5%
- Student support: attendance, guidance, health and psychological services$113 million17.1%
- School administration: principals' offices$89.3 million13.5%
- Student transportation$70.7 million10.7%
- Teacher support: curriculum, training, libraries$66.1 million10.0%
- District administration: the board and superintendent's office$63.4 million9.6%
- Business office and central services$56.2 million8.5%
- Other support services and benefits paid by the state$13.3 million2.0%
Buildings and equipment Details$573 million23.2%
Of this, construction: $517 million.
Food service and other$103 million4.2%
Interest on debt$54.6 million2.2%
Community services and adult education$12.5 million0.5%

Inside these totals: $1.1 billion in salaries and wages, $306 million in employee benefits. Long-term debt at year end: $1.3 billion.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finances: Fiscal Year 2024. School year 2023-24. census.gov the data file

Spending per student over time

South Dakota: day-to-day spending per student, by fiscal year.

Not adjusted for inflation. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 20. summary tables

What Washington committed

Department of Education money committed for use in South Dakota in fiscal year 2025: $368 million. The programs below include money from Agriculture (school meals) and Health and Human Services (Head Start), and college aid (Pell).

Why this differs from the federal line above: that line is what South Dakota's schools received in the 2023-24 school year (Census). This one is what Washington committed in a later federal year, including college aid, which schools never receive.

Federal education programs in South Dakota, fiscal year 2025
Program	What it is	South Dakota	Share of the national total
Impact Aid	Payments to districts with federal land or military families	$92.4 million	5.9%
Title I	Grants to schools with many students from low-income families	$70.6 million	0.4%
Pell Grants	College grants to students with financial need	$65.2 million	0.2%
Head Start	Early childhood programs (Department of Health and Human Services)	$63.7 million	0.5%
School lunch	National School Lunch Program (Department of Agriculture)	$56.6 million	0.2%
Special education (IDEA)	Grants to states for students with disabilities, ages 3 to 21	$54.1 million	0.4%
Title II, teachers	Supporting effective instruction: teacher and principal training	$10.8 million	0.5%
Title IV-A	Student support and academic enrichment grants	$7.7 million	0.6%
After school (21st Century)	21st Century Community Learning Centers	$6.9 million	0.5%
Career and technical education	Perkins basic grants to states	$6.0 million	0.4%
Federal Work-Study	Part-time jobs for college students with need	$3.8 million	0.3%
College opportunity grants (SEOG)	Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants	$2.7 million	0.3%
Special education, preschool	Preschool grants for children with disabilities, ages 3 to 5	$1.6 million	0.4%
English learners (Title III)	English language acquisition grants	$1.6 million	0.2%

Source: USAspending.gov, U.S. Department of the Treasury. Federal fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), money committed (obligated) by state where it is used. usaspending.gov

How is South Dakota spending the education lottery money?

South Dakota law sends net proceeds from instant tickets and the state's share of video lottery net machine income to the state general fund, and splits online (lotto) net proceeds between the general fund and the state capital construction fund; no share is earmarked for education.

What the law says

"Net proceeds from the sale of instant lottery tickets shall be transferred to the state general fund on an annual basis after July first each year."

SDCL 42-7A-24; SDCL 42-7A-63 sdlegislature.gov

Tickets sold$1.4 billion p. 6
Prizes 73%$994 million p. 6
Retailers 13%$176 million p. 6
Running the lottery 1%$12.9 million p. 23
Sent to the state for its programs 14%$188 million p. 23
Of what was sent to the state, to educationUnknown

What it paid for, FY2026

Payments made during the year. They include money earned in earlier years, so they do not add up to the year's total sent to education.

State General Fund$184 million p. 23
Capital Construction Fund (64 percent Water and Environment Fund, 36 percent State Highway Fund)$3.3 million p. 23
Department of Social Services, problem gambling treatment services$116,961 p. 23

What auditors found

"during our audit we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses."

South Dakota Department of Legislative Audit, Independent Auditor's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting, South Dakota Lottery, FY2026, 2026-10-14. legislativeaudit.sd.gov

Still being verified: to education.

Every school system in South Dakota

148 school systems reported to the Census Bureau for 2023-24. See each one's money in and money out.

See all 148 school systems

The record

School money: Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finances: Fiscal Year 2024, U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances. The district totals for South Dakota were added up and checked against the Census state table on seven totals. census.gov
Federal money: Federal education spending, fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025). Money committed, by the state where it is used. usaspending.gov
Lottery: South Dakota Lottery 2026 Annual Report (with audited financial statements), South Dakota Lottery; hosted by South Dakota Department of Legislative Audit, 2026-10-14. legislativeaudit.sd.gov
Lottery: SDCL 42-7A-24, Transfer of net proceeds to state funds, South Dakota Legislature. sdlegislature.gov
Lottery: SDCL 42-7A-63, State's percentage of net machine income, South Dakota Legislature. sdlegislature.gov
Checked November 2, 2026. How we track it · Report an error