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Dental assistant schools in South Dakota
South Dakota has 3 accredited campuses awarding dental assisting credentials. If you finish and work as a dental assistant in South Dakota, expect to start around $38,190–$47,060 and reach a median of $47,900 with experience; the top quarter earn $57,890 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, South Dakota). Graduates of these South Dakota programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $32,684 in their first year, against $24,225 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What dental assistants earn in South Dakota
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 1,290 employed in South Dakota. National median: $48,070.
Campuses in South Dakota, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: Rapid CitySioux FallsWatertown
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Area Technical College | Watertown | Public | 29 | $32,684 | $5,500 | 73% | not reported |
| Southeast Technical College | Sioux Falls | Public | 20 | not reported | not reported | 59% | not reported |
| Western Dakota Technical College | Rapid City | Public | 6 | not reported | $6,500 | 54% | not reported |
Earnings are median wages and self-employment income reported to the IRS (W-2 and Schedule SE) for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled, measured in the calendar year after finishing. They are pay only: health insurance, retirement contributions and other benefits are not included.
Ranked by median earnings of this program's graduates one year after completion (College Scorecard field-of-study, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2022-23 Completions survey; College Scorecard June 2026; Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), September 2026); campuses without a reported figure follow, by credentials awarded. "Program debt" is the median federal loan debt for graduates of this program at this campus. Completion is the campus-wide 150%-of-time rate. "Not reported" means the federal file suppresses the value for privacy.