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

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Highlights
- Santa Cruz spends 6.1% less per student than Santa Monica.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 0.1% lower in Santa Cruz than in Santa Monica. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Santa Cruz had 1.5% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Santa Monica
 Santa Monica, CASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,364$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$14,374  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,688$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio21.86  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock62714573
 Students per Counselor380  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock2.3%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.2.6%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock95.7%88.9%
 Some College Educ.12.4%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock8.1%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.67.8%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock18.0%9.3%
 Professional Degree7.7%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock5.5%1.5%
Reviews for Santa Monica    24 Reviews

I moved here to Santa Monica over 10 years ago from Oklahoma City. I was surprised to see that Oklahoma City was ranked higher than Santa Monica on best places. I  More

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I've lived in Santa Monica for over 30 years. It's a Mediterranean climate--sunny and temperate when the rest of the country is under snow! I am walking distance to  More

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I have lived in this city for 4 decades, and it is never been worse than it is now. It is a dangerous disgusting hell hole. Between the crime, the homeless that are not  More

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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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