2026 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Austin, TX

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Highlights
- Austin spends 20.9% more per student than Santa Cruz.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 33.5% lower in Austin than in Santa Cruz. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Austin had 5.4% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Cruz
 Santa Cruz, CAAustin, TXUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$19,780$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,552  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$6,081$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.84  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock8054573
 Students per Counselor473  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock5.3%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.1.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock90.6%88.9%
 Some College Educ.19.7%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock5.4%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.56.6%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock14.9%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.9%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock2.6%1.5%
Reviews for Santa Cruz    44 Reviews

I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we  More

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Over 6 years ago

I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class  More

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I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity,  More

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Reviews for Austin    449 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

Good place to visit.  More

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Austin is too expensive. Let's get that out of the way. Other than that it is a fun city. Ladybird Lake makes the city, imo. The ability to stand up paddle, kayak, walk  More

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The city continues to grow quickly, which a lot of people don't like. I get it, you fall in love with a city, and it's growing so fast that you don't recognize the same  More

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