2025 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, SC vs Bethesda, MD

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Highlights
- Bethesda spends 15.0% more per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 11.3% lower in Bethesda than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Bethesda had 8.4% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, SCBethesda, MDUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$19,736$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$14,952  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$10,703$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio15.36  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock4904573
 Students per Counselor336  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock1.1%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.7.3%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock98.1%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.8%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock1.7%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.44.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock28.6%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.5%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock13.1%1.5%
Reviews for Columbia    50 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

I love living in Columbia! I recently graduated from USC and plan to stay. I read the reviews posted here and it shows that like many cities, your experience will depend  More

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Loved living in Columbia, SC prior to my job transfer. It's the perfect size - plenty to do, but still a laid back place. People are extremely friendly, there are  More

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Columbia is such a unique and underrated place. It has a lot of character and history, and good nature trails. Everything feels accessible (by car) and you can get from  More

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Reviews for Bethesda    12 Reviews

Bethesda is awesome if you want to live near DC and in a relatively safe city that has few parking issues. Montgomery county has parking lots in downtown Bethesda and  More

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Amenities are plentiful, but costs continue to rise as do local and state taxes. Overall not a friendly place to  More

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Essentially an upscale suburb of Washington DC. Public transport is easy, there's plenty to do (though with none of the edginess of living closer in DC) and it's minutes  More

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