2026 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Lancaster, PA

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Highlights
- Lancaster spends 15.1% more per student than Santa Barbara.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 34.5% lower in Lancaster than in Santa Barbara. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Lancaster had 6.2% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Barbara
 Santa Barbara, CALancaster, PAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$19,226$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,158  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$9,603$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.01  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock4574573
 Students per Counselor539  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock8.0%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.4.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock82.5%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.5%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock8.5%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.50.5%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock6.8%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.6%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.0%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 5 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 Lancaster    14 Reviews

Lancaster is really nice in some parts, but it seems like the further away you get from downtown the worse it gets. I grew up around Saint Joseph and manor and saw  More

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I was there last weekend and was extremely favorably impressed. The only hesitation, and question, I have about the place is the high crime rate. It is hard to tell from  More

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Over 12 years ago

Lancaster is the nation's oldest inland city located in central PA amid Amish farmlands. Walkable and soon to be bike friendly, it offers a variety of great restaurants  More

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