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

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Highlights
- Columbia spends 19.7% more per student than Merced.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 30.8% lower in Columbia than in Merced. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Columbia had 21.8% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Merced
 Merced, CAColumbia, SCUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$17,157$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$12,556  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$9,360$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio22.2  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock5744573
 Students per Counselor512  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock2.2%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.11.7%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock90.5%88.9%
 Some College Educ.23.7%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.7%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.16.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock11.7%9.3%
 Professional Degree0.9%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock3.3%1.5%
Reviews for Merced    44 Reviews

Merced is totally slept on - you want a little bit of everything CA has to offer, at a fraction of the price of other CA cities? Merced is the place to go. The town  More

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Over 5 years ago

Good place to live. More affordable than most of california. The city is growing and there is alot of business and growth here. Moved from the Bay area years ago and  More

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Great place to live. Lots of progress and changes coming to the city. Great place to raise a family. UC Merced is expanding and businesses are investing. Downtown is  More

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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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