Top College Towns(Metro Areas), 2010 (living, best, cost, state)

[18Montclair]

The organization identified 222 metropolitan statistical areas with at least 15,000 students, based on U.S. Census Bureau standards, and then chose the top 75. It then ranked cities in four population categories, from the largest metro areas to small college towns. The rankings are based on 12 criteria in three general categories: academic environment (with an eye toward factors such as student diversity and degree attainment), quality of life (arts and leisure, cost of living, etc.) and professional opportunity (such measures as earning potential, unemployment rate, entrepreneurial activity).
The index is "based on objective data that we get from the U.S. Census Bureau or the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or the National Science Foundation, so it's not colored by the schools providing data or by surveys of students and professors," says Lynch.


The index is free on the organization's website (aier.org); it also is publishing a companion guide, 2010-2011 College Destinations ($10), which profiles the top 40 cities in the index — 10 in each of the four population categories.

Top 10 major metros areas
(Populations over 2.5 million)
1. San Francisco
2. New York
3. Washington
4. Boston
5. Seattle
6. Baltimore
7. Los Angeles
8. San Diego
9. Minneapolis-St. Paul
10. Philadelphia
Top 10 midsize metros
(Population 1 million to 2.5 million)
1. San Jose
2. Austin
3. Raleigh, N.C.
4. Hartford, Conn.
5. Portland, Ore.
6. Pittsburgh
7. Salt Lake City
8. Rochester. N.Y.
9. Buffalo
10. Nashville
Top 10 small cities
(250,000 to 1 million)
1. Boulder, Colo.
2. Ann Arbor, Mich.
3. Bridgeport, Conn.
4. Trenton-Ewing, N.J.
5. Gainesville, Fla.
6. Madison, Wis.
7. Durham, N.C.
8. Santa Cruz, Calif.
9. Honolulu
10. Fort Collins, Colo.
Top 10 college towns
(under 250,000)
1. Ithaca, N.Y.
2. State College, Pa.
3. Iowa City
4. Ames, Iowa
5. Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
6. Charlottesville, Va.
7. Corvallis, Ore.
8. Bloomington, Ind.
9. Lawrence, Kan.
10. Logan, Utah
Source: American Institute for Economic Research

Best college towns (and cities) ranked - USATODAY.com

Interesting that the Top 5 in the above ranking is the same as the Top 5 in the ranking below(albeit in a different order)

And this is CITIES ONLY-NOT METRO AREAS

San Francisco Tops List Of Cities With Most College Degrees (CHART)

[emcee squared]

7,000 bachelor and graduate degrees per square mile in SF? Wow!

[John Shaft]

So basically isn't this just saying that the more densely populated cities will have more degrees per square mile? And they needed to do a study to figure that out?

[emcee squared]

Originally Posted by John Shaft

So basically isn't this just saying that the more densely populated cities will have more degrees per square mile? And they needed to do a study to figure that out?

Yes, the second study, to a degree.

Also, more college kids/graduate per square mile would make it a more welcoming college experience.

[Rhymes with Best Coast]

Two seperate studies, two totally diferent criteria, but essentially the same result. Top 5 not surprising to me at all.

Good stuff, Montclair!

[TomDot]

I would imagine that one would need a college degree to live in SF. It's very doubtful very many blue collar workers could afford it. Or students for that matter.

[Columbus1984]

No Athens, GA???? This list is bogus then.

[OyCrumbler]

I'm sure Manhattan alone would skew things way in its favor.

[rnc2mbfl]

The Census separated Raleigh and Durham into two different metros for, God only knows, whatever reason. Yet, both metros individually make their respective top ten lists. I imagine the former Raleigh/Durham/Chape Hill MSA would have topped the midsize metro category had it stayed as one.
BTW, Chapel Hill isn't separately listed only because it's part of the Durham metro.
The "Triangle" rocks!