2026 Compare Cities Education:
Madison, WI vs Philadelphia, PA

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Highlights
- Philadelphia spends 46.5% more per student than Madison.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 13.9% higher in Philadelphia than in Madison. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Philadelphia had 9.5% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Madison
 Madison, WIPhiladelphia, PAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$25,843$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,473  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,842$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio13.2  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock23804573
 Students per Counselor415  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock5.1%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.2.4%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock86.6%88.9%
 Some College Educ.15.4%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock6.0%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.58.5%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock9.3%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.2%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.8%1.5%
Reviews for Madison    78 Reviews

Unfortunately, a number of these reviews are politically based. Madison remains the only shining star in Wisconsin’s economy. The economy is broadly based, with  More

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Have been living in Madison for almost 3 years. It’s very safe, ppl generally friendly and for a town of its size it has fair number of good restaurants and interesting  More

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Lacks balance and zero accountability.   More

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Reviews for Philadelphia    139 Reviews

Philadelphia is a very walkable and fun city to explore (albeit be aware of where not to explore at least at night). The city has beautiful old architecture , great  More

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I’m originally from New York City, then lived in a small city in upstate New York for eight years, then moved down to Philadelphia and have lived here for many years.  More

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Now the only reason some people disagree is because MONEY. If you live in “manayunk” (which I lived for 2 years) you can’t compare … you can’t compare your out skirt  More

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