The 20 best college towns in America

boulder
Did your college town make the cut? Boulder, Colorado, won top billing. Shutterstock/Tang Yan Song

As summer vacation winds down, the newest crop of college freshman are preparing for their first year in a new place.

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If they — or their parents — are wondering what to expect, they can look to a ranking of college towns in Americas from the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER).

AIER compiled its list using nine economic, demographic, and quality-of-life factors. It defines college towns as those which are home to a college or university and have fewer than 250,000 residents.

Aside from the overall ranking, AIER scored each city on nine metrics including rent, earnings, and bars and restaurants. Below, we've highlighted the metric for which each city scored highest.

Scroll through to find out the 20 best college towns.

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20. Bellingham, Washington — home of Western Washington University

Bellingham, Washington
Shutterstock

Metro area population: 208,832

College student population in the metro area: 24,926

No. 4 in arts and entertainment

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19. La Crosse, Wisconsin — home of the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse

la crosse wi
Wikipedia

Metro area population: 136,824

College student population in the metro area: 16,081

No. 1 in youth unemployment

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18. Jacksonville, North Carolina — home of the University of Mount Olive at Jacksonville

Jacksonville, North Carolina
Jimmy Emerson, DVM / Flickr

Metro area population: 186,684

College student population in the metro area: 15,297

No. 3 in rent

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17. Blacksburg, Virginia — home of Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech)

Blacksburg Gobblerfest
Mohaas05 via Wikipedia

Metro area population: 180,649

College student population in the metro area: 41,438

No. 3 in bars and restaurants

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16. Rochester, Minnesota — home of the University of Minnesota at Rochester

Rochester Minnesota
Facebook/Visit Rochester, Minnesota

Metro area population: 170,519

College student population in the metro area: 11,363

No. 4 in rent

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15. State College, Pennsylvania — home of Pennsylvania State University

State College, PA
Flickr / Amir Nejad

Metro area population: 159,341

College student population in the metro area: 39,577

No. 5 in bars and restaurants

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14. Athens, Georgia — home of the University of Georgia

Athens, Georgia
Richardelainechambers via Wikimedia Commons

Metro area population: 159,341

College student population in the metro area: 39,577

No. 5 in bars and restaurants

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13. Fargo, North Dakota — home of North Dakota State University

Fargo
Omar David Sandoval Sida via Wikipedia

Metro area population: 167,166

College student population in the metro area: 21,346

No. 1 in rent

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12. Lafayette, Indiana — the metropolitan area is home to Purdue University

Lafayette, Indiana
Qsthomson via Wiki

Metro area population: 212,704

College student population in the metro area: 44,252

No. 2 in innovation

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11. Charlottesville, Virginia — home of the University of Virginia

Charlottesville downtown
Experience Charlottesville/Facebook

Metro area population: 227,179

College student population in the metro area: 26,327

No. 3 in youth unemployment

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10. Bloomington, Illinois — home of Illinois Wesleyan University

Bloomington, Illinois
Todd Ryburn via Wikimedia Commons

Metro area population: 189,628

College student population in the metro area: 25,689

No. 2 in arts and entertainment

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9. Columbia, Missouri — home of the University of Missouri

shakespeare's pizza columbia missouri
Amanda Macias/Business Insider

Metro area population: 172,738

College student population in the metro area: 32,287

No. 4 in labor force

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8. Manhattan, Kansas — home of Kansas State University

Downtown_Manhattan_Kansas
Wikipedia

Metro area population: 98,643

College student population in the metro area: 17,537

No. 5 in labor force

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7. College Station, Texas — home of Texas A&M University

college station texas
Pmelton87

Metro area population: 242,453

College student population in the metro area: 58,018

No. 1 in bars and restaurants

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6. Bloomington, Indiana — home of Indiana University at Bloomington

Bloomington Indiana
Yahala via Wikipedia

Metro area population: 163,726

College student population in the metro area: 41,211

No. 2 bars and restaurants

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5. Iowa City, Iowa — home of the University of Iowa

Iowa City Iowa
University of Iowa/Facebook

Metro area population: 164,043

College student population in the metro area: 33,358

No. 3 in college educated

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4. Ithaca, New York — home of Cornell University and Ithaca College

ithaca cornell
Mary Robnett/Business Insider

Metro area population: 104,592

College student population in the metro area: 28,164

No. 2 in college educated

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3. Flagstaff, Arizona — home of Northern Arizona University

flagstaff arizona
Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau

Metro area population: 138,039

College student population in the metro area: 24,832

No. 1 in diversity

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2. Champaign-Urbana, Illinois — home of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Metro area population: 207,584

College student population in the metro area: 47,895

No. 1 in city access

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1. Boulder, Colorado — home of the University of Colorado-Boulder

Pearl Street, Boulder, Colorado
Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado Flickr / Let Ideas Compete

Metro area population: 199,129

College student population in the metro area: 31,958

No. 1 in innovation

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