2026 Compare Cities Education:
Redwood City, CA vs Santa Barbara, CA

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Highlights
- Santa Barbara spends 16.8% less per student than Redwood City.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 6.2% higher in Santa Barbara than in Redwood City. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Santa Barbara had 0.8% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Redwood City
 Redwood City, CASanta Barbara, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,705$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$15,457  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,862$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio19.79  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock123874573
 Students per Counselor431  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock7.2%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.5.1%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock88.0%88.9%
 Some College Educ.14.2%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.2%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.52.5%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock12.6%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.0%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock3.5%1.5%
Reviews for Redwood City    11 Reviews

(Caveating everything with "it's Bay Area prices") Redwood City is a large sprawling town where you can find just about anything you're looking for. There's great  More

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The entire Bay Area is ridiculous. You can't compare it to other areas. RWC is reasonably cheap for the area. I pay $5K for a rental townhouse in one of the many  More

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Lovely weather. Safe place to live (I live in Redwood Shores). The only thing that keeps this place from being 5 stars is the cost of housing. When you have to pay an  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 5 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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