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Rapid City, South Dakota has 3 accredited schools offering elementary education programs. Rapid City has a population of about 76,836. Median household income is $65,712 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 36.4% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Rapid City, SD metro area, the top-earning elementary education-related role is Middle School Teacher at a median $60,020 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer elementary education programs near Rapid City, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Rapid City city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Rapid City. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all South Dakota schools on the South Dakota elementary education page.
Rapid City is part of the Rapid City, SD metro area (BLS area code 39660). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to South Dakota statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary School Teacher | $59,480 | Rapid City, SD | $66,682 |
| Middle School Teacher | $60,020 | Rapid City, SD | $67,287 |
| Secondary School Teacher | $59,540 | Rapid City, SD | $66,749 |
| Teaching Assistant | $27,740 | Rapid City, SD | $31,099 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 76,836 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $65,712 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 36.4% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 89.2 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 3 accredited schools offering elementary education programs near Rapid City. The closest is Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD (43.8 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Chadron State College (87.4 miles). 2 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying elementary education-related roles near Rapid City are: Middle School Teacher ($60,020), Secondary School Teacher ($59,540), Elementary School Teacher ($59,480). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with South Dakota statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Rapid City’s median household income of $65,712 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Rapid City while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and South Dakota public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Rapid City:
Data verified: July 30, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Best Online Elementary Education Programs in South Dakota (2026)
