2025 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, SC vs Petaluma, CA

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Highlights
- Petaluma spends 1.8% less per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 35.5% higher in Petaluma than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Petaluma had 0.1% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, SCPetaluma, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,850$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$14,952  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$8,508$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio15.36  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock142404573
 Students per Counselor336  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock4.6%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.7.3%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock90.5%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.8%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock9.4%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.44.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock9.9%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.5%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.4%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 Petaluma    16 Reviews

I agree with the low star reviews. Been here for 25 years, raised a family and seen everything turn to the left and worse. Weather is glorious, love the old Victorians  More

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We’ve lived here for 3 years and we love it. It has taken some time to grow on us. We moved from SF where we had lived over 15 years, we were not used to one year leases  More

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I’ve lived here a couple of years (after living in others parts of the Bay Area for 15+ years) and I love it! Great neighborhoods, friendly folks, good schools with  More

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