2025 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Boulder, CO

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Highlights
- Boulder spends 3.3% less per student than Santa Barbara.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 18.6% lower in Boulder than in Santa Barbara. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Boulder had 10.2% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Barbara
 Santa Barbara, CABoulder, COUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,153$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,158  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$6,939$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.01  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock6194573
 Students per Counselor539  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock1.4%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.4.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock96.9%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.5%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock3.6%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.50.5%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock25.0%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.6%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock9.0%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 Boulder    55 Reviews

Outside of the university, Boulder had a very distinctive "wealthy hippy" feel. A lot of alternative medicine and a matching ethos. This is changing some among my  More

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We moved here from Texas about 4 years ago and love it here! The amazing sense of community and high regard for the environment are two of the main reasons we love  More

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Over 5 years ago

Most people do much worse than Boulder. I'm the most critical person I've ever met who is never happy or satisfied -- so that's a pretty huge compliment.   More

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