2025 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Ames, IA

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Highlights
- Ames spends 1.6% more per student than Santa Barbara.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 30.0% lower in Ames than in Santa Barbara. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Ames had 10.3% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Barbara
 Santa Barbara, CAAmes, IAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,979$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,158  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,158$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.01  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock6004573
 Students per Counselor539  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock0.7%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.4.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock97.0%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.5%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.7%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.50.5%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock17.2%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.6%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock9.7%1.5%
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 4 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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Reviews for Ames    12 Reviews

Over 13 years ago

Hello, I am in San Jose Ca, but am seriously thinking of moving somewhere much slower for a better quality of living. I've just turned 59, so I'm kinda preparing for  More

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Over 13 years ago

Like every other city Ames has both good and bad points. The good points are: low cost of living, very friendly people, lots of outdoor activities and quite a few events  More

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Ames enjoys a high quality of life at a very affordable cost, substantially lower than many other communities. The presence of Iowa State University, a large (28,000  More

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