2025 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Merced, CA

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Highlights
- Merced spends 12.4% less per student than Santa Cruz.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 1.6% higher in Merced than in Santa Cruz. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Merced had 22.4% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Cruz
 Santa Cruz, CAMerced, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$14,332$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,552  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,391$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.84  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock61024573
 Students per Counselor473  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock14.1%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.1.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock74.3%88.9%
 Some College Educ.19.7%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock9.4%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.56.6%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock4.0%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.9%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.1%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 5 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 Merced    44 Reviews

Merced is totally slept on - you want a little bit of everything CA has to offer, at a fraction of the price of other CA cities? Merced is the place to go. The town  More

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Over 5 years ago

Good place to live. More affordable than most of california. The city is growing and there is alot of business and growth here. Moved from the Bay area years ago and  More

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Great place to live. Lots of progress and changes coming to the city. Great place to raise a family. UC Merced is expanding and businesses are investing. Downtown is  More

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