2025 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Costa Mesa, CA

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Highlights
- Costa Mesa spends 8.5% less per student than Santa Barbara.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 10.5% higher in Costa Mesa than in Santa Barbara. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Costa Mesa had 0.4% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Barbara
 Santa Barbara, CACosta Mesa, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$15,277$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,158  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$8,037$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.01  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock163834573
 Students per Counselor539  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock6.1%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.4.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock87.6%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.5%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.4%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.50.5%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock8.9%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.6%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.1%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 Costa Mesa    8 Reviews

Over 15 years ago

Costa mesa has awesome shopping but is way too crowded and I have had 3 cars stolen in the past 5 years along with countless break-ins and theft. Expensive. Close to  More

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Over 16 years ago

Costa Mesa has a near perfect climate . . . plenty of sun but rarely over 100 degrees (our house doesn't even have AC). Nestled between Newport Beach and Huntington  More

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We have a good amount of low-income, medium-income, and relatively high-income  More

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