Madison, Wisconsin, was ranked as one of the best college towns in the US.
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College towns can significantly impact the student experience.
WalletHub analyzed over 400 US cities based on affordability, social scene, and academics.
Top college towns include Austin, Texas; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Madison, Wisconsin.
When choosing a college or university to attend, location can be just as important as academics for some students.
The communities immediately surrounding college campuses can define what a student's college experience looks like, from having access to restaurants and bars to meeting students from nearby institutions.
In a study released in October, WalletHub analyzed over 400 college towns and cities across the US and ranked them based on affordability, social scene, and academic prospects in 2025.
To analyze the cost of living (or "wallet friendliness"), WalletHub researchers examined data such as average housing costs, the cost of higher education, the share of rental units, and the average cost of pizza and burgers in each city.
Its social rank was determined by factors including the share of the population aged 18-35, the share of single people, the gender balance among students, and cafés, breweries, food trucks, and nightlife per capita, among others.
WalletHub also looked at the quality of higher education, job-growth rate, earning potential for college graduates, and unemployment rate, among other factors, to determine each city's academic and economic opportunity rank.
The study used data from federal agencies, including the US Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Center for Education Statistics, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as data from companies like TransUnion, TripAdvisor, and Yelp, along with other WalletHub research.
The list of top college towns — defined by WalletHub as cities with a college student population of over 7,500 students — includes a range of major cities and small education hubs.
While some locations are major education hubs and house big universities alongside small private and public community colleges, we've listed the main flagship institution for each location.
See which college towns and cities made it to the top 30.
30. Fargo, North Dakota
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School: North Dakota State University
Home to North Dakota State University, Fargo sits adjacent to the state's border with Minnesota, and was ranked as the 30th-best college town in the US.
Among all the midsize cities in the study with populations between 125,000 and 300,000, Fargo ranked 11th.
29. Irvine, California
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School: University of California, Irvine
Located about an hour outside of Los Angeles, Irvine was ranked as the 29th-best college town in the US.
The city, which is home to the University of California, Irvine, ranked eighth for academic and economic opportunities.
28. Champaign, Illinois
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School: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Located just over an hour outside Chicago, Champaign was ranked as the 28th-best college town in the US.
Among small towns with fewer than 125,000 residents, Champaign ranked sixth.
27. Laramie, Wyoming
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School: University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming, home to the University of Wyoming, was ranked as the 27th-best college town in the US.
Among the small towns in the study with fewer than 125,000 residents, the city ranked fifth.
26. Las Vegas, Nevada
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School: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas might not be exactly what you picture when you think of a college town, but the city is home to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and was ranked the 26th-best college town in the US.
The city came eighth in the study's social environment rank.
25. West Lafayette, Indiana
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School: Purdue University
Home to Purdue University, the Midwestern city was ranked as the 25th-best college town in the US.
It also came fourth among small cities with fewer than 125,000 residents in the study.
24. Columbus, Ohio
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School: The Ohio State University
Columbus, the capital city of Ohio, ranked as the 24th-best college town in the US.
Among large cities with populations over 300,000 in the study, Columbus ranked 11th.
23. Boise, Idaho
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School: Boise State University
The capital city of Idaho, Boise, is home to Boise State University and was ranked as the 23rd-best college town in the US.
Among midsize cities in the study, with populations between 125,000 and 300,000, Boise ranked 10th.
22. Berkeley, California
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School: University of California, Berkeley
The Bay Area city of Berkeley is home to the University of California, Berkeley, which has long been one of the top-ranked public universities in the country.
The city came fourth in the study's academic and economic opportunities ranking, which considered factors such as job-growth rate, earning potential for college graduates, and unemployment rate.
21. Sacramento, California
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School: California State University, Sacramento
Home to the California State University, Sacramento, California's capital city ranked 19th in the study's social environment rank.
Among the large cities in the study with over 300,000 residents, Sacramento ranked 10th.
20. New Haven, Connecticut
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School: Yale University
The home of Yale University, New Haven was ranked 38th in the study's academic and economic opportunities list, and it came second overall for quality of higher education, only behind Princeton, New Jersey.
However, it also had the lowest rank out of top 20 cities in the study's social environment rank, and WalletHub noted it had one of the highest costs for higher education.
19. Charleston, South Carolina
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School: College of Charleston
Ranked as the ninth-highest city in the study's social environment ranking, Charleston had the sixth-highest social ranking out of the top 20 cities.
18. Madison, Wisconsin
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School: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was ranked as the 42nd-best city in terms of social environment in the study, which looked at 415 towns and cities.
17. Salt Lake City, Utah
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School: University of Utah
Salt Lake City, home to the University of Utah, was ranked as the 17th best college town in America.
Out of the top 20 cities, it had the lowest ranking on the study's economic and academic opportunity rank.
16. Seattle
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School: University of Washington
Despite its overall high ranking, Seattle was ranked as the lowest city in the top 20 in the wallet friendliness category, coming 360th out of the 415 places in the study.
15. Tallahassee, FloridaTallahassee, Florida, is the home of Florida State University and was ranked as the 15th-best college town in the US.
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School: Florida State University
The capital city of Florida and home to Florida State University, Tallahassee, was the second-highest ranked city for wallet friendliness within the top 20, although it also had the second-lowest social rank out of the cities in the top 20.
14. Miami
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Schools: University of Miami, Florida International University
Miami was ranked as the 14th best college town in the country, and the city also received the third-highest social rank in the top 20, ranking fourth overall out of all cities in the study.
13. Scottsdale, Arizona
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School: Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, Arizona, which houses the Scottsdale Community College and was ranked as the 13th best college town in the US, had the second-lowest ranking for wallet friendliness out of the top 20 cities.
WalletHub also noted it had the second fewest students per capita of all the 415 cities in the study, behind only Cape Coral, Florida.
12. Phoenix, Arizona
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Schools: Grand Canyon University
Phoenix was ranked the 12th best college town in the US. The city is home to Grand Canyon University and is near other major universities in nearby towns.
11. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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School: University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University
Home to the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University among other institutions, Pittsburgh received the second-highest social rank out of top 20 cities, ranking third overall. The city was also ranked as the lowest out of the top 20 in the economic and academic opportunity rank.
10. Gainesville, Florida
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School: University of Florida
The home of the University of Florida was the highest-ranked for wallet friendliness within the top 20 college towns.
It also had the fourth-lowest cost of higher education out of the 415 cities studied by WalletHub.
9. Charlottesville, Virginia
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School: University of Virginia
Home to the University of Virginia, Charlottesville was ranked the third highest for academic and economic opportunity out of the top 20 college towns.
8. Reno, Nevada
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School: University of Nevada, Reno
Ranked as the eighth-best college town in the US, Reno is home to the University of Nevada, Reno.
7. Atlanta
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Schools: Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Emory University, Spelman College, Morehouse College
Atlanta is home to over a dozen major universities and over 50 higher education institutions. The city received the highest social rank out of all the cities in the top 20, ranking second overall for all cities in the study.
6. Tempe, Arizona
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School: Arizona State University
Tempe, home to Arizona State University, was the fourth-highest ranking city within the top 20 in the academic and economic opportunity category.
5. Raleigh, North Carolina
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School: North Carolina State University
The home of North Carolina State University was ranked as the fifth-highest out of the top 20 college towns for academic and economic opportunity.
4. Tampa, FloridaTampa, Florida, is home to the University of South Florida.
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School: University of South Florida, University of Tampa
Out of the top 20 college towns in the US, Tampa was the third-highest ranking for wallet friendliness and fourth-highest for social environment — where it ranked fifth overall out of all cities in the study.
3. Orlando, FloridaOrlando is home to the University of Central Florida
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School: University of Central Florida
Orlando had the fifth-highest social rank out of the top 20 cities.
WalletHub reported that at $24,668 per year, Orlando also has the 14th-lowest tuition, including room and board, for in-state students.
2. Ann Arbor, Michigan
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School: University of Michigan
Home to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor was the second-highest ranking out of the top 20 college towns for academic and economic opportunities.
It provides opportunities for social connections too, with 348 out of every 1,000 residents being students, per WalletHub.
1. Austin, Texas
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School: University of Texas at Austin
Austin is ranked as having the 10th-best academic and economic opportunities in the US — WalletHub noted the city has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.
Pizza prices are low, and there are plenty of attractions in the city to help students unwind, the report added.