2025 Compare Cities Education:
Rapid City, SD vs Merced, CA

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Highlights
- Merced spends 38.7% more per student than Rapid City.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 46.6% higher in Merced than in Rapid City. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Merced had 21.5% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Rapid City
 Rapid City, SDMerced, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$14,332$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$9,859  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,391$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio15.14  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock61024573
 Students per Counselor407  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock14.1%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.4.1%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock74.3%88.9%
 Some College Educ.22.2%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock9.4%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.34.8%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock4.0%9.3%
 Professional Degree2.6%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.1%1.5%
Reviews for Rapid City    31 Reviews

I have lived in this city for the last three and half years and I can't stand it!! Let me spell it out for you, but to be fair, let me give you the Pros first:  More

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Unless you made your pension out of state or already bought a home you can't afford to liver there. Rapid City is gray in winter.  More

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Over 4 years ago

I've lived in the city 5 years a loved  More

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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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