2026 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Rochester, NY

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Highlights
- Rochester spends 65.8% more per student than Santa Cruz.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 46.1% lower in Rochester than in Santa Cruz. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Rochester had 13.8% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Cruz
 Santa Cruz, CARochester, NYUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$27,131$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,552  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$13,281$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.84  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock6654573
 Students per Counselor473  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock5.6%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.1.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock82.5%88.9%
 Some College Educ.19.7%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock9.9%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.56.6%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock8.7%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.9%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.6%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 Rochester    79 Reviews

Stay out of the rougher patches, and you'll find a pretty solid city. I live within close proximity to it, and the crime from it DOES rub off on us (auto theft), but  More

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Rochester isn't perfect (I'll detail pros and cons), but it's certainly perfect for me and my husband. We've lived here for 4 years and are getting ready to purchase our  More

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Rochester is a scenic city with so much to offer in terms of things to do and having 4 seasons, except the summer is more like a long spring!! It's a relatively unknown  More

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