2026 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, SC vs Castro Valley, CA

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Highlights
- Castro Valley spends 3.7% more per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 40.7% higher in Castro Valley than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Castro Valley had 0.6% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, SCCastro Valley, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$17,788$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$14,952  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$8,104$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio15.36  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock95554573
 Students per Counselor336  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock5.2%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.7.3%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock91.0%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.8%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock10.0%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.44.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock11.5%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.5%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock2.0%1.5%
Reviews for Columbia    50 Reviews

Over 3 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 Castro Valley    7 Reviews

CURMUDGEON - THANK YOU for your post. The most important part of your comment is your second paragraph. "Hodge-Podge" is the correct word for a lot of Castro  More

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Over 12 years ago

Kind of rural but close to Oakland and San  More

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Castro Valley is the largest unincorporated "city" in the Bay Area. Over the years, several attempts have been made to incorporate, but they have all been defeated at  More

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