2026 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, MD vs Fort Walton Beach, FL

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Highlights
- Fort Walton Beach spends 44.9% less per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 28.6% higher in Fort Walton Beach than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Fort Walton Beach had 3.5% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, MDFort Walton Beach, FLUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$9,875$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$16,615  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$5,920$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio13.46  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock16174573
 Students per Counselor331  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock3.2%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.2.0%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock91.8%88.9%
 Some College Educ.14.0%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock10.3%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.62.8%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock8.2%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.8%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock0.9%1.5%
Reviews for Columbia    28 Reviews

Over 6 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 Fort Walton Beach    10 Reviews

Over 4 years ago

Ive lived in Fort Walton for atleast 15yrs.Ive seen the good days(early to late 200's)and now the bad.If you move here,youd better make atleast $10,000 a month.These  More

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I would like to know if Fort Walton Beach is a better place to live rather than busy Clearwater FL. We want to re-locate to a quieter city with all the amenities of a  More

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FWB is great for its beautiful beaches and saltwater fishing. It's also easy to move around town except during rush hour (yes, we have a rush hour - but it literally  More

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