The 10 Best College Towns In Indiana For 2022


Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our fifth time ranking the best college towns in Indiana.
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Believe it or not, America has the best colleges in the world. It's been proven by data (and surveys) that the U.S. educational system is of the highest quality

It's actually not even close and Indiana is home to a handful of them.

While we could debate which colleges within the are the 'best,' that's not the goal of this post.

Instead, ride along with us as we determine which college towns in Indiana are the best.

You know, the type of places where there's energy and stimulation, but the type of place you can walk around at night. The happiest, chillest, most downright fun places where you can send your kids off to college where you won't break the bank, or worry about their well being.

Without further ado, here are the best college towns in Indiana for 2022.

The 10 Best College Towns In Indiana For 2022

  1. Bloomington, IN
  2. Vincennes, IN
  3. Notre Dame, IN
  4. Greencastle, IN
  5. Muncie, IN
  6. Westville, IN
  7. Winona Lake, IN
  8. Hammond, IN
  9. Marion, IN
  10. South Bend, IN

While some of these may not seem like a 'real' college town per se, when you look at the numbers, it's hard to argue against.

And for those who live in Bloomington, Vincennes and Notre Dame - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Bloomington ranks in terms of the best college town in America.

Finally, if you live in Franklin, IN - it's officially the worst college town in Indiana. Sorry, Franklin!

Read on to find out more or for more on Indiana check out:

The 10 Best College Towns In Indiana For 2022

Bloomington, IN
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 84,691
% Undergrad Pop.: 34.7% (4th best)
Median Rent: $946 (28th best)
Unemployment Rate: 716.4% (25th best)
Crime Rank: 26th best
More on Bloomington: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Indiana University-Bloomington, Tricoci University of Beauty Cuture LLC-Bloomington, Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington

Vincennes, IN
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 17,091
% Undergrad Pop.: 53.6% (3rd best)
Median Rent: $690 (5th best)
Unemployment Rate: 522.4% (9th best)
Crime Rank: 13th best
More on Vincennes: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: Vincennes University, Vincennes Beauty College, Purdue University - Purdue Polytechnic Vincennes

Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 6,699
% Undergrad Pop.: 148.9% (best)
Median Rent: $771 (12th best)
Unemployment Rate: 256.5% (3rd best)
Crime Rank: 13th best
More on Notre Dame: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College, Holy Cross College

Greencastle, IN
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 10,312
% Undergrad Pop.: 21.6% (7th best)
Median Rent: $768 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 132.2% (best)
Crime Rank: 13th best
More on Greencastle: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: DePauw University

Muncie, IN
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 67,739
% Undergrad Pop.: 24.1% (5th best)
Median Rent: $714 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 767.6% (27th best)
Crime Rank: 13th best
More on Muncie: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Ball State University, Ross Medical Education Center-Muncie, Ivy Tech Community College-East Central

Westville, IN
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 5,822
% Undergrad Pop.: 58.7% (2nd best)
Median Rent: $631 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 571.4% (14th best)
Crime Rank: best
More on Westville: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Purdue University-North Central Campus

Winona Lake, IN
Overall SnackAbility
9
/10

Population: 4,902
% Undergrad Pop.: 24.0% (6th best)
Median Rent: $997 (29th best)
Unemployment Rate: 205.2% (2nd best)
Crime Rank: 2nd best
More on Winona Lake: Real Estate

Colleges: Grace College and Theological Seminary

Hammond, IN
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 76,141
% Undergrad Pop.: 10.6% (13th best)
Median Rent: $883 (24th best)
Unemployment Rate: 703.6% (24th best)
Crime Rank: 13th best
More on Hammond: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Purdue University-Calumet Campus, Brightwood College-Hammond

Marion, IN
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 27,730
% Undergrad Pop.: 18.8% (8th best)
Median Rent: $685 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 956.7% (29th best)
Crime Rank: 13th best
More on Marion: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion

South Bend, IN
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 102,686
% Undergrad Pop.: 5.9% (17th best)
Median Rent: $814 (20th best)
Unemployment Rate: 601.1% (19th best)
Crime Rank: 29th best
More on South Bend: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Indiana University-South Bend, Brown Mackie College-South Bend, ITT Technical Institute-South Bend

How'd we figure out the best college towns in Indiana?

To crunch our data on Indiana's best college towns, we had to first decide which qualities (or rankings) make sense to use in the data, and then crunch the numbers for our rankings.

First off, we firmly decided that only cities with a 4 year college should make the cut -- so there has to be at least one college granting bachelors degrees in town.

You might be surprised to hear that there are only 29 places in Indiana with an institution of higher learning with that criteria.

Source of data include OpenStreetMaps, the College Scorecard, the U.S. Census, and FBI reporting data to include the following factors:

  • Students Make Up Large % of the Population
  • College-specific Factors
    • Graduation rate
    • Tuition Cost
    • Student Body Diversity
  • Town Characteristics
    • Safety
    • Affordability
    • Income and Employment Opportunities
  • Things to Do
    • Bars
    • Museums & Libraries
    • Population Density

We ranked each city across each of the criteria, with one being the best.

We rolled up the individual scores into the category and ranked them again based on the category.

Finally, we took the average rank across each category, with the city posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title "Best College Town In Indiana For 2022".

And it looks like Bloomington placed Summa Cum Laude.

There You Have It -- The Best College Towns In The

If you're looking for the best college towns in Indiana, you came to the right place.

These places all have great college sports programs, tons of stuff to do, and are great places to raise a family.

If you're curious, these are the worst college towns in Indiana, starting with the absolute worst, Franklin:

  1. Franklin
  2. Anderson
  3. Angola
  4. Indianapolis
  5. Merrillville
  6. Jeffersonville
  7. Kokomo
  8. Rensselaer
  9. Fort Wayne
  10. North Manchester

For more reading, check out:

29 Best College Towns In Indiana

Rank City Population
1 Bloomington, IN 84691
2 Vincennes, IN 17091
3 Notre Dame, IN 6699
4 Greencastle, IN 10312
5 Muncie, IN 67739
6 Westville, IN 5822
7 Winona Lake, IN 4902
8 Hammond, IN 76141
9 Marion, IN 27730
10 South Bend, IN 102686
11 Mishawaka, IN 49675
12 Evansville, IN 118414
13 Huntington, IN 17083
14 Crawfordsville, IN 16088
15 Gary, IN 75486
16 Richmond, IN 35467
17 Terre Haute, IN 60690
18 Goshen, IN 34586
19 Valparaiso, IN 33707
20 North Manchester, IN 5612
21 Fort Wayne, IN 268378
22 Rensselaer, IN 6151
23 Kokomo, IN 58066
24 Jeffersonville, IN 47932
25 Merrillville, IN 34871
26 Indianapolis, IN 869387
27 Angola, IN 8706
28 Anderson, IN 54476
29 Franklin, IN 25276

Best College Towns By State

Enjoy The Snack?