2026 Compare Cities Education:
Highland Park, IL vs Santa Monica, CA

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Highlights
- Santa Monica spends 28.7% less per student than Highland Park.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 61.2% higher in Santa Monica than in Highland Park. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Santa Monica had 3.3% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Highland Park
 Highland Park, ILSanta Monica, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$17,429$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$20,875  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$8,492$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio13.56  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock65654573
 Students per Counselor592  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock3.1%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.0.8%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock94.3%88.9%
 Some College Educ.9.8%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock6.1%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.76.4%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock17.6%9.3%
 Professional Degree13.2%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock4.1%1.5%
Reviews for Highland Park    3 Reviews

You can sail on Lake Michigan, and your culture differences are welcomed. look up "North Shore Yacht Club" for sailing and kayaking  More

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Highland Park (and the village of Highwood, which it surrounds) is a great place to live, offering a unique combination of benefits. First, it is on the shore of Lake  More

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Over 20 years ago

A wonderful place to rasie a family, but quite expensive. Great schools, but the "wealth culture" of this tony Chicago suburb causes a lot of anxiety among the kids.   More

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Reviews for Santa Monica    24 Reviews

I moved here to Santa Monica over 10 years ago from Oklahoma City. I was surprised to see that Oklahoma City was ranked higher than Santa Monica on best places. I  More

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I've lived in Santa Monica for over 30 years. It's a Mediterranean climate--sunny and temperate when the rest of the country is under snow! I am walking distance to  More

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I have lived in this city for 4 decades, and it is never been worse than it is now. It is a dangerous disgusting hell hole. Between the crime, the homeless that are not  More

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