2025 Compare Cities Education:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Tacoma, WA

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Highlights
- Tacoma spends 12.2% more per student than Santa Cruz.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 14.5% lower in Tacoma than in Santa Cruz. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Tacoma had 5.8% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Cruz
 Santa Cruz, CATacoma, WAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$18,363$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$13,552  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,966$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.84  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock11394573
 Students per Counselor473  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock4.1%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.1.9%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock90.2%88.9%
 Some College Educ.19.7%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock10.3%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.56.6%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock8.1%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.9%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock1.2%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 Tacoma    40 Reviews

I've lived in Tacoma for 3.5 years and love it! It's not a perfect city, nowhere is perfect and Tacoma does have its' share of problems, but overall have found T-Town  More

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Over 4 years ago

We LOVE tacoma. Grew up in Seattle, and tacoma is so much better! Easy access to the water, hiking, and Mt Rainier and the Olympics. We love the coffee shops and  More

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Over 5 years ago

Having lived over half my life here I can tell you real friends are few and far between. You will go through many and only have a handful who stick with you. Your  More

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