Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight
The average South Dakota teacher salary has increased by just over $6,000 in the last six years, according to a recent state Department of Education report.
That’s enough to meet requirements set forth by the 2016 Legislature, which aimed to increase teacher salaries to competitive rates by increasing the state’s sales tax by half a percentage point. But it means the average South Dakota teacher’s purchasing power is less than it was in 2017, when factoring in inflation.
The Legislature required that school district teacher compensation each year through 2024 be higher than the district’s average compensation in 2017, or else the district’s state aid would be reduced. All South Dakota school districts met the requirement this year.
But the state’s average teacher pay stands at 49th in the nation. Such low salaries are cited as a factor in the statewide teacher shortage.
The average South Dakota teacher salary in 2017 was $47,096 and rose to $53,217 in 2023, which is a 13% increase. When factoring in insurance and benefits, average teacher compensation increased from $60,687 in 2017 to $68,507 this year, which is also a 13% increase.
The 2017 average salary has the same buying power as a salary of about $59,000 today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The U.S. inflation rate was 5% and 8% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. So far in 2023 the rate is around 3%.
Only three school district salary increases in the state outpaced the rate of inflation since 2017: Elk Mountain, Rutland and Tripp-Delmont, though the average salary among the three is $48,510, and the state’s latest statistical digest said Elk Mountain had only 11 students.
Rapid City teachers saw the lowest increase at 2.5%. Average salaries in Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s largest school district, increased 11.5%.