2025 Compare Cities Education:
Grand Rapids, MI vs Santa Barbara, CA

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Highlights
- Santa Barbara spends 13.9% more per student than Grand Rapids.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 23.6% higher in Santa Barbara than in Grand Rapids. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Santa Barbara had 0.8% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Grand Rapids
 Grand Rapids, MISanta Barbara, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,705$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$11,296  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,862$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio17  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock123874573
 Students per Counselor681  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock7.2%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.6.0%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock88.0%88.9%
 Some College Educ.20.1%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.2%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.38.8%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock12.6%9.3%
 Professional Degree2.2%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock3.5%1.5%
Reviews for Grand Rapids    62 Reviews

I've lived in Grand Rapids about 85% of my life and can confidently say it is a great place to live for anyone. I know countless people who dogged the city, moved  More

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Grand Rapids proper - the small city - is fairly OK. Nothing special stands out about it when judged against the nicer areas of the US, but it has some decent dining and  More

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Wow. “bland Rapids and everyone is Smug, uptight and part of the Christian Reformed Church. “ Someone is accurately describing Grand Rapids in 1985. Much has changed  More

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Reviews for Santa Barbara    51 Reviews

I moved to Santa Barbara around 23 years ago to study at Brooks, which like most of the Santa Barbara that I knew—has been destroyed. Homelessness, drugs, gangs, high  More

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Over 4 years ago

I fell in love with Santa Barbara about thirty years ago and finally moved here a few years ago. Because of the price of homes, it is an expensive place to live. The  More

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If you like high crime, paying a $4,500 a month mortgage and crazy high taxes, this is the place for you. It’s too bad because it wasn’t always like this. When I moved  More

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