2026 Compare Cities Education:
West Des Moines, IA vs Sarasota, FL

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Highlights
- Sarasota spends 5.9% less per student than West Des Moines.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 1.0% lower in Sarasota than in West Des Moines. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Sarasota had 6.3% fewer residents who had graduated High School compared to West Des Moines
 West Des Moines, IASarasota, FLUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$13,454$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$11,894  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,593$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio15.53  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock8684573
 Students per Counselor362  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock3.6%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.2.1%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock90.5%88.9%
 Some College Educ.17.1%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock8.1%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.53.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock10.3%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.1%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock2.4%1.5%
Reviews for West Des Moines    4 Reviews

Over 17 years ago

I just moved here from out-of-state a few months ago and have been pleasantly surprised by the broad range of activities and amenities available in this medium sized IA  More

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Over 17 years ago

Am contemplating a move to WDM from the East Coast (NYC). Might there be anyone out there that may have experienced this and could offer guidance or comment. Thanks.   More

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We just moved to West Des Moines and we love it here! We moved here three months ago and every weekend we have been able to do something different and fun. There is  More

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Reviews for Sarasota    105 Reviews

Sarasota is my home from birth but those of us who have lived here long enough to have seen the devolution of what was once an easy to navigate, clean, low crime beach  More

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Starting to love Sarasota: Wife and I moved to Osprey- a small suburb between Sarasota and Venice. We're about 13 miles to downtown Sarasota, so not "city dwellers".   More

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As always, anyone considering moving to anyplace new, including Sarasota, needs to come down and spend a month or two before actually moving here. The city is overrun  More

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