2025 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, SC vs Palo Alto, CA

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Highlights
- Palo Alto spends 7.3% more per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 40.6% higher in Palo Alto than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Palo Alto had 7.3% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, SCPalo Alto, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$18,401$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$14,952  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$8,804$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio15.36  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock65284573
 Students per Counselor336  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock1.8%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.7.3%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock97.0%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.8%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock3.2%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.44.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock30.3%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.5%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock16.0%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 Palo Alto    8 Reviews

The Bay Area in general, but Palo Alto specifically provides many of the qualities sought by many; the climate is beautiful, there is access to cultural and recreational  More

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Over 17 years ago

Very  More

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Over 18 years ago

VTA and SamsTrans and Caltrain all provide good service and most times frequency of service is  More

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