Best college towns
What's the best college town in the United States? According to the popular apartment rental website RentCafe, it's right here—Bozeman, Montana.
The college towns that made it into RentCafe's top 20 this year are places that offer a balance between a great education, high quality of life, and affordability. The rankings are based on 12 metrics, including cost of living, tuition fees, scholarship availability, graduation rates, natural amenities, air quality, entertainment options, admission yield, and more.
The fact that affordability is incorporated into the rankings raised an eyebrow for me, as housing in Bozeman is expensive if you're not planning to live on campus. But it's tough to argue with everything else. Bozeman has many miles of spectacular trails for hiking and mountain biking, world-class skiing nearby, and excellent whitewater. Although Bozeman isn't a large city, there are great restaurant options for tacos, brunch, sushi, Italian, Korean, Thai, and pizza, not to mention a variety of high-quality, comfortable coffee shops for socializing and doing schoolwork. There are several small to mid-sized music venues that are among the best anywhere. There's even a highly successful comedy club. On-campus dining is rated among the best in the country.
Other college towns on the list are as follows:
Pullman, Washington
Clemson, South Carolina
Gainesville, Florida
Boone, North Carolina
Moscow, Idaho
Laramie, Wyoming
Amherst, Massachusetts
College Station, Texas
Storrs, Connecticut
Athens, Ohio
Provo, Utah
East Lansing, Michigan
Bloomington, Indiana
Ellensburg, Washington
Stanford, California
Oxford, Ohio
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Oneonta, New York
Davis, California
I've visited many of these, and I can confirm that many of these are great choices (I'm thinking especially of Moscow, Pullman, and Bloomington), and there were also some that surprised me (Oneonta, Oxford).
Which college town is your favorite, and why? Tell me why in the comments, and maybe I'll schedule a visit there this spring!
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