Top 10 College Towns for Post-Grads 2019
College towns offer the affordability of small towns with the culture of big cities.
With the high costs of living and poor housing availability in many major cities, it’s easy to see why more post-grads are choosing to move to college towns after graduation.
College towns have the amenities and culture of larger cities but at small-town prices.
Perfect for students just starting to pay back student loans.
But which college towns are the best for post-grads?
Here we rank the best college towns based on demographics, housing, affordability, and lifestyle to source the best options for recent graduates.
The Top 10 Post-Grad College Towns
- South Bend, IN
- Lawrence, KS
- Asheville, NC
- Manhattan, KS
- Logan, UT
- Durham, NC
- Syracuse, NY
- Savannah, GA
- Monroe, LA
- Lawton, OK
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10. South Bend, IN
Post-Grad Score: 80
- Non-College Population: 92.26%
- 25-35 Population: 16.8%
- Average Rent: $1,075
- Average Home Price: $121,477
- Cost of Living Index: 92
- Ammeneties: 62
9. Lawrence, KS
Post-Grad Score: 81
- Non-College Population: 77.3%
- 25-35 Population: 14.3%
- Average Rent: $858
- Average Home Price: $205,000
- Cost of Living Index: 96
- Ammeneties: 69
8. Asheville, NC
Post-Grad Score: 80
- Non-College Population: 70.6%
- 25-35 Population: 15.6%
- Average Rent: $1,154
- Average Home Price: $171,900
- Cost of Living Index: 86
- Ammeneties: 70
7. Manhattan, KS
Post-Grad Score: 81
- Non-College Population: 74.38%
- 25-35 Population: 15.7%
- Average Rent: $820
- Average Home Price: $218,555
- Cost of Living Index: 92
- Ammeneties: 74
6. Logan, UT
Post-Grad Score: 82
- Non-College Population: 64.51%
- 25-35 Population: 15.5%
- Average Rent: $779
- Average Home Price: $221,200
- Cost of Living Index: 88
- Ammeneties: 71
5. Durham, NC
Post-Grad Score: 83
- Non-College Population: 97.56%
- 25-35 Population: 15.6%
- Average Rent: $1,252
- Average Home Price: $223,400
- Cost of Living Index: 89
- Ammeneties: 73
If you’re looking for more information on the city, check out our moving to Durham guide!
4. Syracuse, NY
Post-Grad Score: 84
- Non-College Population: 90.39%
- 25-35 Population: 13.5%
- Average Rent: $840
- Average Home Price: $86,400
- Cost of Living Index: 83
- Ammeneties: 56
3. Savannah, GA
Post-Grad Score: 86
- Non-College Population: 97.19%
- 25-35 Population: 16.3%
- Average Rent: $1,175
- Average Home Price: $134,600
- Cost of Living Index: 90
- Ammeneties: 65
2. Monroe, LA
Post-Grad Score: 91
- Non-College Population: 85.89%
- 25-35 Population: 12.2%
- Average Rent: $664
- Average Home Price: $98,000
- Cost of Living Index: 93
- Ammeneties: 63
1. Lawton, OK
Post-Grad Score: 94
- Non-College Population: 93.76%
- 25-35 Population: 16.8%
- Average Rent: $712
- Average Home Price: $88,100
- Cost of Living Index: 91
- Ammeneties: 71
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Methodology
- Demographics: Being near a university has a lot of benefits, but you also want to make sure you won’t be surrounded by students constantly. We used census data to determine the percentage of non-college students and the percentage of people over the age of 25 in each city.
- Housing: Another major factor is whether or not you can actually afford housing. Here we looked at average rents as listed by RentCafe and average home values from Zillow.
- Affordability: We took the cost of living data from Payscale to measure how affordable a town is.
- Lifestyle: There are so many additional factors like crime rates and ameneties that can make or break a city, so we’ve also factored in the livability scores from AreaVibes.