2025 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, MO vs West Des Moines, IA

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Highlights
- West Des Moines spends 0.4% more per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 21.4% higher in West Des Moines than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- West Des Moines had 1.2% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, MOWest Des Moines, IAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$14,293$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$11,303  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,373$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio12.79  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock7994573
 Students per Counselor260  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock1.3%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.2.5%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock96.6%88.9%
 Some College Educ.17.6%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock9.6%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.53.8%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock13.3%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.6%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.6%1.5%
Reviews for Columbia    41 Reviews

If you are an active person and love to be outdoors and go to college sporting events, Columbia is a great place to live! I run and bike and go to Mizzou events a lot. I  More

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Over 4 years ago

I've live in CoMo for 20 yrs. NOT sure about this state of the art water park??!! There are great parks but nothing else for families. NO zoo, museum, and definitely no  More

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I lived there for a year and hated every minute. Columbia reminded me of the San Francisco of the Midwest. It is overrun with homeless people. Law enforcement is  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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