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

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Highlights
- Petaluma spends 3.0% more per student than Santa Cruz.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 4.7% lower in Petaluma than in Santa Cruz. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Petaluma had 5.4% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Cruz
 Santa Cruz, CAPetaluma, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,850$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,552  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$8,508$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.84  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock142404573
 Students per Counselor473  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock4.6%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.1.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock90.5%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.  Unlock9.9%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.9%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.4%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 Petaluma    16 Reviews

I agree with the low star reviews. Been here for 25 years, raised a family and seen everything turn to the left and worse. Weather is glorious, love the old Victorians  More

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We’ve lived here for 3 years and we love it. It has taken some time to grow on us. We moved from SF where we had lived over 15 years, we were not used to one year leases  More

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I’ve lived here a couple of years (after living in others parts of the Bay Area for 15+ years) and I love it! Great neighborhoods, friendly folks, good schools with  More

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