2025 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Des Moines, IA

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Highlights
- Des Moines spends 14.4% less per student than Santa Barbara.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 26.1% lower in Des Moines than in Santa Barbara. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Des Moines had 1.0% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Barbara
 Santa Barbara, CADes Moines, IAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$14,293$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,158  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,373$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.01  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock7994573
 Students per Counselor539  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock6.5%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.4.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock87.1%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.5%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock9.2%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.50.5%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock6.2%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.6%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock0.8%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 Des Moines    53 Reviews

Des Moines is a ok and pretty quiet place but as a teen it could be dramatic because Des Moines do have is fair or violents places to avoid in Des Moines would be the  More

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Dude · 
Over 5 years ago

This city is violent, there are too many gangs especially on the north  More

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Over 6 years ago

Good for the old that like slow pace and cheap buffets. Also good for non-descript mid-westerners that don't like a lot of action. No nightlife or mountains to hike  More

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