2025 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, MD vs Santa Maria, CA

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Highlights
- Santa Maria spends 6.7% less per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 56.1% higher in Santa Maria than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Santa Maria had 34.7% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, MDSanta Maria, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,705$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$16,615  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,862$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio13.46  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock123874573
 Students per Counselor331  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock27.8%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.2.0%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock62.2%88.9%
 Some College Educ.14.0%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.2%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.62.8%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock2.8%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.8%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock0.3%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 Santa Maria    12 Reviews

Over 6 years ago

I live in Orcutt which is a town of around 35,000 on the south side of Santa Maria. Santa Maria has, as everyone has noted, the best climate in the world. It never  More

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I have lived in Santa Maria / Orcutt for several years, but it is time to leave. I have no issues with the weather. Our climate is mild and comfortable with no extremes.  More

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The weather is very mild without a huge temperature change with the seasons. The winters are chilly but not cold and the summers are warm but not hot. Of course there  More

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