Shannon County Education Attainment Charts

This section of charts contains Education data using using the latest 2015 American Community Survey data. In the first chart, Figure 1 shows the number of people age 25 years or older who have graduated from high school or completed the GED or equivalent credential. Shannon County South Dakota reveals it has 79% percent high school graduates or better which is the smallest percent high school graduates or better of all the other counties in the area. The county with the highest percent high school graduates or better in the area is Dawes County with a high school graduates of 94% which is about 19% larger.

The number of people aged 25 years or older who have graduated from college with a Bachelor's degree is shown in Figure 2. Shannon County South Dakota shows it has 12% percent with a bachelors degree or higher which is the smallest percent with a bachelors degree or higher of all the other counties in the area. The county with the highest percent with a bachelors degree or higher in the area is Dawes County with a percent with a bachelors degree of 39% which is about twice as large.

Figure 3 shows a pie chart that illustrates the proportion of educational attainment by large categories of achievement. Shannon County has the largest proportion of percent of people with less than a high school education at 21% of the total and is ranked #1.



The chart in Figure 5 shows a high level classification of people with a Bachelors degree and their field of study. Shannon County has the largest proportion of percent of people with an Arts, Humanities, or other degree at 26.1% of the total and is ranked #1.

The next chart (Figure 6) shows a detailed frequency distribution of the bachelors degrees earned by residents aged 25 years and older. Shannon County has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with a degree in Engineering at 5.7% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger county being Pennington County with 5.9%. Second, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in some other field of study at 19.3% of the total and is ranked #1.

Figure 7 provides a detailed comparison between places of educational attainment in large categories. Shannon County has the largest proportion of percent of people with less than a high school degree at 20.8% of the total and is ranked #1.

A detailed frequency distribution of educational attainment is provided in Figure 8 and allows detailed comparison between different attainment categories. Shannon County has the largest proportion of percent of people with less than High School at 20.8% of the total and is ranked #1.

Shannon County School Enrollment Charts

The next section of charts looks at school enrollment. Figure 12 shows the overall school enrollment by detailed grade groupings. Shannon County has one of the largest proportions of percent of children in grades 5 to 8 at 25.9% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger county being Jackson County with 26.9%.









Figure 17 shows for all graduate and professional schools (such as Law or Medical school) and whether students are enrolled in public or private schools. Shannon County South Dakota has the largest proportion of percent enrolled in a Public gradudate or Professional school at 100% of the total and is ranked #1.

The next chart in Figure 18 looks at the total number of students enrolled in each place shown. (Enrollment includes all students from preschool to graduate school.) Shannon County South Dakota shows it has 4,932 Total population enrolled in school which is the 2nd most of all the counties in the area. The county with the highest Total population enrolled in school in the area is Pennington County with a Total population enrolled in school of 26,890 approximately 4.0 times bigger. Comparing Total population enrolled in school to the United States average of 82,735,516, Shannon County is about the same size. Also, versus the state of South Dakota, average Total population enrolled in school of 218,108, Shannon County is about the same size.

In Figure 20, the proportion of children enrolled in public versus private preschools is shown. Shannon County South Dakota has one of the largest proportions of percent enrolled in public preschool at 97% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger county being Bennett County with 98%.

Shannon County Area Schools Charts

Figure 21 lists the schools in the area along with the school district and other information. Some of the Area Schools are: Rockyford Lower Elementary - 03, Rockyford Upper Elementary - 07, Wolf Creek Upper Elementary - 06, Shannon County Alternative School - 09, and Wolf Creek Lower Elementary - 02. The next illustration in Figure 22 shows the total school enrollment for all grades at the school using NCES Common Core data. Looking at Enrollment for Area Schools we find that Wolf Creek Lower Elementary - 02 ranks the largest with a value of 416 enrolled students. The next largest values are for: Rockyford Lower Elementary - 03 (312), Chadron Middle School (271), Chadron Senior High School (254), and Chadron Primary (236). The difference between the highest value (Wolf Creek Lower Elementary - 02) and the next highest (Rockyford Lower Elementary - 03) is that the enrolled students is about about 33% larger.

Figure 23 show the ratio of the number of students to the number of teachers. Good measures are lower because they indicate less students for any one teacher to educate. Looking at Student to Teacher Ratio for Area Schools we find that Oelrichs Jr. High - 03 ranks the largest with a value of 5.8 Student to Teacher Ratio. The next largest values are for: Spring Creek Elementary - 07 (6.0), Oelrichs High School - 01 (6.9), Shannon County Alternative School - 09 (8.8), and Interior Elementary - 09 (9.1). The difference between the lowest value (Oelrichs Jr. High - 03) and the next lowest (Spring Creek Elementary - 07) is that the Student to Teacher Ratio is about about 3% larger.