2026 Compare Cities Education:
Richmond, VA vs Santa Cruz, CA

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Highlights
- Santa Cruz spends 5.9% more per student than Richmond.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 51.6% higher in Santa Cruz than in Richmond. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Santa Cruz had 9.1% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Richmond
 Richmond, VASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,364$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$14,373  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,688$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio14.41  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock62714573
 Students per Counselor272  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock2.3%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.7.6%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock95.7%88.9%
 Some College Educ.19.2%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock8.1%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.43.1%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock18.0%9.3%
 Professional Degree3.7%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock5.5%1.5%
Reviews for Richmond    109 Reviews

Over 4 years ago

Lived here for a year and it’s not perfect but it’s constantly improving now (areas redevloped, more businesses, job growth). Cost of living is great compared to  More

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Over 5 years ago

We love Richmond so much that when we talk about where we'd like to live if we could live anywhere in the US, we always come back to RVA. We live in the city proper  More

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Over 5 years ago

I'm an out-of-towner but am coming up on 1 year in Richmond. I would summarize it this way: the best thing and the worst thing about Richmond is its location. I'll  More

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Reviews for Santa Cruz    44 Reviews

I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we  More

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Over 6 years ago

I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class  More

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I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity,  More

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