2025 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, MD vs Lancaster, PA

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Highlights
- Lancaster spends 7.3% more per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 2.3% higher in Lancaster than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Lancaster had 13.3% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, MDLancaster, PAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$19,226$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$16,615  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$9,603$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio13.46  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock4574573
 Students per Counselor331  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock8.0%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.2.0%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock82.5%88.9%
 Some College Educ.14.0%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock8.5%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.62.8%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock6.8%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.8%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.0%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 Lancaster    14 Reviews

Lancaster is really nice in some parts, but it seems like the further away you get from downtown the worse it gets. I grew up around Saint Joseph and manor and saw  More

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I was there last weekend and was extremely favorably impressed. The only hesitation, and question, I have about the place is the high crime rate. It is hard to tell from  More

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Over 11 years ago

Lancaster is the nation's oldest inland city located in central PA amid Amish farmlands. Walkable and soon to be bike friendly, it offers a variety of great restaurants  More

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