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The 10 Best College Towns In Maryland For 2022


By Nick Johnson & Chris Kolmar | 04/07/2022
Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our fifth time ranking the best college towns in Maryland.
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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 Maryland 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 Maryland 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 Maryland for 2022.

The 10 Best College Towns In Maryland For 2022

  1. Towson, MD
  2. College Park, MD
  3. Takoma Park, MD
  4. Adelphi, MD
  5. Frostburg, MD
  6. Baltimore, MD
  7. Frederick, MD
  8. Salisbury, MD
  9. Westminster, MD
  10. Suitland, MD

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 Towson, College Park and Takoma Park - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Towson ranks in terms of the best college town in America.

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Maryland For 2022

1. Towson, MD

Towson, MD
Source: Wikipedia User |
Overall SnackAbility
7.5
/10

Population: 57,542
% Undergrad Pop.: 24.2% (4th best)
Median Rent: $1,488 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 424.3% (best)
Crime Rank: 7th best
More on Towson: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: Towson University, Fortis Institute-Towson, Brightwood College-Towson

2. College Park, MD

College Park, MD
Source: Wikipedia User User:Tomf688 | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 32,221
% Undergrad Pop.: 76.5% (2nd best)
Median Rent: $1,583 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 501.4% (5th best)
Crime Rank: 7th best
More on College Park: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: University of Maryland-College Park

3. Takoma Park, MD

Takoma Park, MD
Source: Wikipedia User Farragutful | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility
8
/10

Population: 17,703
% Undergrad Pop.: 5.8% (7th best)
Median Rent: $1,156 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 540.2% (6th best)
Crime Rank: 4th best
More on Takoma Park: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Washington Adventist University

4. Adelphi, MD

Adelphi, MD
Source: Flickr User The Eggplant | CC BY-ND 2.0
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 16,364
% Undergrad Pop.: 80.8% (best)
Median Rent: $1,484 (8th best)
Unemployment Rate: 701.7% (9th best)
Crime Rank: 7th best
More on Adelphi: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: University of Maryland-University College

5. Frostburg, MD

Frostburg, MD
Source: Wikipedia User Lee Cannon from Bayville | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 8,550
% Undergrad Pop.: 51.8% (3rd best)
Median Rent: $730 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 1073.1% (13th best)
Crime Rank: 2nd best
More on Frostburg: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Frostburg State University

6. Baltimore, MD

Baltimore, MD
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 602,274
% Undergrad Pop.: 5.7% (8th best)
Median Rent: $1,094 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 755.6% (11th best)
Crime Rank: 13th best
More on Baltimore: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: The Community College of Baltimore County, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Baltimore City Community College

7. Frederick, MD

Frederick, MD
Source: Wikipedia User Rollbama4 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 71,843
% Undergrad Pop.: 1.2% (12th best)
Median Rent: $1,378 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 470.9% (2nd best)
Crime Rank: 3rd best
More on Frederick: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Frederick Community College, Hood College, Frederick School of Cosmetology

8. Salisbury, MD

Salisbury, MD
Source: Wikipedia User Eric Fischer | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 32,850
% Undergrad Pop.: 17.9% (5th best)
Median Rent: $1,061 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 963.4% (12th best)
Crime Rank: 12th best
More on Salisbury: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Salisbury University, Wor-Wic Community College, Delmarva Beauty Academy

9. Westminster, MD

Westminster, MD
Source: Wikipedia User Farragutful | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 18,649
% Undergrad Pop.: 8.6% (6th best)
Median Rent: $1,165 (5th best)
Unemployment Rate: 497.4% (4th best)
Crime Rank: 10th best
More on Westminster: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Carroll Community College, McDaniel College

10. Suitland, MD

Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 25,273
% Undergrad Pop.: 3.8% (10th best)
Median Rent: $1,409 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 753.3% (10th best)
Crime Rank: 7th best
More on Suitland: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: Strayer University-Maryland

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

To crunch our data on Maryland'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 11 places in Maryland 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 Maryland For 2022".

And it looks like Towson placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

If you're looking for the best college towns in Maryland, 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.

For more reading, check out:

11 Best College Towns In Maryland

Rank City Population
1 Towson, MD 57542
2 College Park, MD 32221
3 Takoma Park, MD 17703
4 Adelphi, MD 16364
5 Frostburg, MD 8550
6 Baltimore, MD 602274
7 Frederick, MD 71843
8 Salisbury, MD 32850
9 Westminster, MD 18649
10 Suitland, MD 25273
11 Laurel, MD 25734

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