2025 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, MD vs Cary, NC

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Highlights
- Cary spends 35.1% less per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 12.3% higher in Cary than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Cary had 1.5% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, MDCary, NCUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$11,618$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$16,615  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$6,316$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio13.46  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock8294573
 Students per Counselor331  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock1.4%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.2.0%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock96.6%88.9%
 Some College Educ.14.0%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock6.5%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.62.8%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock23.3%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.8%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock4.9%1.5%
Reviews for Columbia    28 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

Lived here for a while, beautiful opportunities, pays well, overall nice  More

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Been here 30 years was great at first but once they added a transit bus from baltimore to columbia 15-18 years ago that was the beginning of the end. And about 5 years  More

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Columbia can be described in one word: unequal. The neighborhood I live in, River Hill, is jam-packed with almost million-dollar homes, while the neighborhoods of Long  More

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Reviews for Cary    63 Reviews

Cary is up-and-coming “cool.” The downtown is revitalized and growing. The town takes urban planning very seriously. The home prices have definitely spiked in the last  More

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Over 8 years ago

I've lived in NY, CT, MA, and in Miami FL. Now here in Cary NC for the past 10 years. For what I want and need at this phase of my life, I really like it here! All the  More

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Over 8 years ago

As a Real Estate Agent, I consider Cary the most central location in the Triangle, it basically takes you twenty minutes to get to Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough,   More

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