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

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Highlights
- Santa Barbara spends 2.1% more per student than Santa Cruz.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 3.8% lower in Santa Barbara than in Santa Cruz. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Santa Barbara had 8.1% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Cruz
 Santa Cruz, CASanta Barbara, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,705$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,552  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,862$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.84  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock123874573
 Students per Counselor473  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock7.2%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.1.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock88.0%88.9%
 Some College Educ.19.7%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.2%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.56.6%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock12.6%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.9%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock3.5%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 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 4 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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