Study Ranks Each Of Minnesota’s “College Towns”

From campus activities like football games and homecoming events to the cost of attending school, there are several factors that add up to a great college town. Luckily for us in Minnesota, we have several awesome choices in our state.

WalletHub looked to find the "Best College Towns In America" with its recent study. Using 31 categories including Wallet Friendliness, Social Environment and Academic/Employment Opportunities, WalletHub ranked 415 of America's college towns to find the best- and worst- of them all.

Seven Minnesota college towns were included in the study, with each making it into the top 271.

“Picking the right college is crucial, but it’s also important to make sure that the surrounding college town will be a place where you’ll truly love spending your college years," says WalletHub's Chip Lupo. "Towns with a low cost of living, plenty of activities and large student populations can make your college experience a lot less stressful and a lot more enjoyable. In addition, cities with a great economic environment can make it easier to get a job during or immediately after college.”

MINNEAPOLIS IS #1 IN MINNESOTA

Minnesota's top-rated college town is Minneapolis, which ranked #35 overall. The home of the University of Minnesota, Augsburg and North Central University ranked highly thanks in large part to a #43 ranking in the 'social environment' ranking, which measured things like students per capita, nightlife operations per capita, presence of NCAA Division 1 sports teams and crime rate.

Minneapolis finished 188th in Wallet Friendliness, which measured factors such as housing costs, fitness club fees and even average cost of pizza, and finished 184th in Academic & Opportunities Rank, which lists quality of higher education, unemployment rate and brain drain among its factors.

BEST OF THE REST 

St. Paul, home of colleges like Macalester, the University of St. Thomas and Concordia, finished next at #151 overall (97th in social environment, 223rd in wallet friendliness and 248th in academic & opportunities).

Rochester was next at #174 overall (309 for social environment, 224 for wallet friendliness and 73rd for academic & opportunities).

Duluth, which colleges like the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the College of St. Scholastica, finished 218th overall (237th in social environment, 164th in wallet friendliness and 270th in academic & opportunities).

Moorhead, which boasts both Concordia-Moorhead and Minnesota State-Moorhead, ranked #225 overall.

St. Cloud ranked 263rd overall with a 325th place finish in social environment, 163rd place showing in wallet friendliness and 223rd-place ranking for academic and opportunities.

Mankato finished 271st overall and was the last Minnesota city on the list.