Best College Towns & Cities in America (2024)

High school seniors face a laundry list of tasks when getting ready for college. Between standardized tests, essays and financial-aid applications, the final months before orientation can be difficult. One of the most important steps in the process is the campus visit, which often includes a tour of the city or town that will serve as the student’s home for the next several years.

In addition to its curriculum and social environment, a college’s geographical location can also have an impact on a student’s academic success and personal development. As student living expenses can reach over $35,000 for a 12-month period, students should try to find the most bang for their buck. Therefore, it’s best for students to live in a city with a reasonable cost of living, as well as one that provides good academic and work opportunities. The ideal city should also provide a fun social environment to help students deal with the stress of college.

To help prospective college students narrow down their school choices following the release of , WalletHub compared more than 400 U.S. cities of varying sizes based on 31 key indicators of academic, social and economic opportunities for students. The data set ranges from the cost of living and the crime rate to the quality of higher education in the city.

Overall Ranking

Best College Towns & Cities

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that city, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

In-Depth Look at the Top College Towns for 2024

Austin, TX

Austin, TX holds the crown as the top college town of 2023, and it’s known for schools like the University of Texas at Austin, Concordia University and St. Edward’s University. The city ranks in the top 15 in the U.S. for quality of higher education, and it has a 7.04% average annual job growth rate, one of the highest in the country. Graduates can look forward to good career opportunities after receiving a solid education.

Plus, when students in Austin aren’t busy studying or tailgating for games at Memorial Stadium, they’ll find plenty of ways to stay entertained. Austin has a ton of nightlife options – the city is known as the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’ and it’s famous for its Tex-Mex cuisine, plus students can enjoy recreation at Lake Travis or attend the city’s abundant stand-up comedy sets.

Ann Arbor, MI

The second best college town is Ann Arbor, MI, known for the University of Michigan and also home to Concordia University’s Ann Arbor branch. The city’s schools rank 11th in the nation for educational quality, and the average cost of a semester is $32,272. While that’s still a lot, it’s a great deal lower than the $80,000 per semester you can expect to pay in the most expensive cities.

Ann Arbor is a great place to be for students who want to relax after their studies, too. The town has a large number of nightlife options and numerous cafes. It’s also known for its scenic trails and art scene, which is attractive to students who want to explore and create.

Orlando, FL

Orlando isn’t just home to Disney World - it’s also the third best college town in the country. Notable colleges in the city include the University of Central Florida and Keiser University.

Despite the fact that Orlando is a large city, it’s one of the least expensive places for tuition, room and board, and other college expenses, with a semester costing $24,036 on average. Unsurprisingly, Orlando also provides a ton of enrichment for students outside of class, boasting one of the highest numbers of attractions among the cities in our study, from theme parks to beautiful waterways and botanical gardens.

Orlando has the highest job growth rate in the nation, at 8.69%, so it’s also a great place to stay even after graduation.

Ranking by City Size

Ask the Experts

Colleges and universities drive their surrounding areas culturally, economically and intellectually, making those places an ideal place to live for both students and nonstudents. We asked a panel of experts to share their insight and advice on the various roles of college towns. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:

1. In deciding which university to attend, how important is the surrounding city/town?
2. Are college cities/towns a good option for retirees? What about families?
3. How can parents prepare their children for managing finances in college (student loans, credit cards, etc.)?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of going to college in-state versus out-of-state?
5. How can local authorities make their cities/towns more appealing to both new students and potential residents?

Methodology

In order to determine the best college towns and cities in America, WalletHub examined 415 cities of varying sizes across three key dimensions: 1) Wallet Friendliness, 2) Social Environment and 3) Academic & Economic Opportunities.

We evaluated those three key dimensions using 31 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most favorable conditions for college students. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), we used the square root of the population to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities.

Finally, we determined each town and city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

In this report, including the above tables, “cities” refers to both cities and towns for simplicity. We limited our selection of cities to those with a university or college population of at least 7,500 students. Some cities that met the college-population criterion were excluded from the analysis due to lack of available data. The cities were categorized based on the following population-size guidelines:

• Large Cities: More than 300,000 people
• Midsize Cities: 125,000 to 300,000 people
• Small Cities: Fewer than 125,000 people

Please note that we considered only the city proper in each case and excluded any cities in the surrounding metro area.

Wallet Friendliness – Total Points: 25

• Housing Costs: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the price of a two-bedroom apartment rental.
• Adjusted Cost of Living for Young People: Double Weight (~6.67 Points)
• Share of Rental Units: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
• Average Monthly Fitness-Club Fee: Half Weight (~1.67 Points)
• Average Cost of Pizza & Burgers: Half Weight (~1.67 Points)
• Movie & Bowling Cost: Half Weight (~1.67 Points)
• Cost of Higher Education: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the average tuition fee weighted by the number of students.
• Student Loan Debt per Person: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)

Social Environment – Total Points: 25

• Students per Capita: Double Weight (~3.03 Points)
• Share of Population Aged 18 to 35: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
• Share of Single People: Half Weight (~0.76 Points)
• Student Gender Balance: Half Weight (~0.76 Points)
• Nightlife Options per Capita*: Double Weight (~3.03 Points)
• Cafés per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
• Breweries per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
• Food Trucks per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
• Shopping Centers per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
• Sports Clubs per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
• Presence of NCAA Division 1 Sport Teams: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
  Note: This binary metric measures the presence or absence of a NCAA Division 1 sport team in a city.
• City Accessibility: Half Weight (~0.76 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the share of workers who bike, walk or use public transportation.
• Number of Attractions: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
• Festivals per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.52 Points)
• Crime Rate: Double Weight (~3.03 Points)

Academic & Economic Opportunities – Total Points: 50

• Quality of Higher Education: Triple Weight (~13.64 Points)
• Earning Potential for College Graduates: Full Weight (~4.55 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the median earnings of the population holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• Share of Part-Time Jobs: Full Weight (~4.55 Points)
• Median Income of Part-Time Workers: Double Weight (~9.09 Points)
• Unemployment Rate: Full Weight (~4.55 Points)
• Entrepreneurial Activity: Full Weight (~4.55 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the four-year average net change in the number of businesses per capita.
• Brain Drain: Full Weight (~4.55 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the annual change in the share of the population holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• Job-Growth Rate (2020-2023): Full Weight (~4.55 Points)

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Center for Education Statistics, Numbeo, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, TransUnion, TripAdvisor, AreaVibes, Yelp and WalletHub research.

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