2025 Compare Cities Education:
Charleston, SC vs West Des Moines, IA

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Highlights
- West Des Moines spends 24.5% less per student than Charleston.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 20.3% higher in West Des Moines than in Charleston. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- West Des Moines had 0.9% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Charleston
 Charleston, SCWest Des Moines, IAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$14,293$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$12,188  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,373$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio12.91  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock7994573
 Students per Counselor284  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock1.3%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.3.1%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock96.6%88.9%
 Some College Educ.16.1%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock9.6%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.55.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock13.3%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.8%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.6%1.5%
Reviews for Charleston    76 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

Charleston is beautiful and unique and incredibly special. If you don't believe me, just ask Anthony Bourdain in his Parts Unknown episode - and he was an insightful  More

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Serious lack of health care and "good old boys club" whereby doctors will not even see the patient but diagnose them based on referring doctor. My sister died there for  More

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Over 5 years ago

Boy, has this once beautiful town changed...for the worse! I initially moved here 20 years ago because the people were so nice, no traffic, great choice of hospitals,  More

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Reviews for West Des Moines    4 Reviews

Over 16 years ago

I just moved here from out-of-state a few months ago and have been pleasantly surprised by the broad range of activities and amenities available in this medium sized IA  More

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Over 16 years ago

Am contemplating a move to WDM from the East Coast (NYC). Might there be anyone out there that may have experienced this and could offer guidance or comment. Thanks.   More

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We just moved to West Des Moines and we love it here! We moved here three months ago and every weekend we have been able to do something different and fun. There is  More

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