Lively college towns are pinnacles of American higher education.
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.
When it comes to choosing a college or university to attend, location can be just as important as academics for some students.
In a recent study, WalletHub analyzed over 400 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 like the share of the population aged 18-35, the share of single people, the student gender balance, and cafes, breweries, food trucks, and nightlife per capita, among other factors.
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 20.
20. New Haven, Connecticut
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
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
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
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, which considered factors such as job-growth rate, earning potential for college graduates, and unemployment rate.
16. Seattle
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, Florida
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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, Florida
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, Florida
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
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
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.
