The 10 Best College Towns In Ohio For 2024


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 Ohio is home to a handful of them.

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

Instead, ride along with us as we determine which college towns in Ohio 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.

The 10 Best College Towns In Ohio For 2024

  1. Bowling Green, OH
  2. Kent, OH
  3. Cincinnati, OH
  4. Oxford, OH
  5. Parma, OH
  6. Dayton, OH
  7. Youngstown, OH
  8. Tiffin, OH
  9. Alliance, OH
  10. Oberlin, OH

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 Bowling Green, Kent and Cincinnati - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Bowling Green ranks in terms of the best college town in America.

Finally, if you live in Defiance, OH - it's officially the worst college town in Ohio. Sorry, Defiance!

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Ohio For 2024

Bowling Green, OH
Source: Wikipedia User The original uploader was Wapcaplet at English Wikipedia | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 30,157
% Undergrad Pop.: 51.4% (4th best)
Median Rent: $823 (17th best)
Unemployment Rate: 635.4% (33rd best)
Crime Rank: 13th best
More on Bowling Green: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Bowling Green State University-Main Campus

Kent, OH
Source: Wikipedia User JonRidinger | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 27,336
% Undergrad Pop.: 64.3% (3rd best)
Median Rent: $898 (30th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1068.4% (47th best)
Crime Rank: 11th best
More on Kent: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Kent State University at Kent, Northcoast Medical Training Academy

Cincinnati, OH
Source: Wikipedia User Ynsalh | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 308,870
% Undergrad Pop.: 9.3% (2best)
Median Rent: $893 (29th best)
Unemployment Rate: 687.5% (34th best)
Crime Rank: 48th best
More on Cincinnati: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: University of Cincinnati-Main Campus, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Xavier University

Oxford, OH
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 22,051
% Undergrad Pop.: 67.8% (2nd best)
Median Rent: $992 (43rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 1091.3% (48th best)
Crime Rank: 23rd best
More on Oxford: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: Miami University-Oxford

Parma, OH
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
8
/10

Population: 80,587
% Undergrad Pop.: 0.1% (48th best)
Median Rent: $980 (40th best)
Unemployment Rate: 578.0% (29th best)
Crime Rank: 7th best
More on Parma: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Bryant & Stratton College-Parma

Dayton, OH
Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
3
/10

Population: 137,305
% Undergrad Pop.: 13.3% (14th best)
Median Rent: $830 (18th best)
Unemployment Rate: 998.1% (45th best)
Crime Rank: 49th best
More on Dayton: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Sinclair Community College, Wright State University-Main Campus, University of Dayton

Youngstown, OH
Source: Wikipedia User Blue80 | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 60,048
% Undergrad Pop.: 18.3% (9th best)
Median Rent: $711 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1324.1% (5best)
Crime Rank: 42nd best
More on Youngstown: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Youngstown State University, Choffin Career and Technical Center, ITT Technical Institute-Youngstown

Tiffin, OH
Source: Wikipedia User Starpoe31 | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
8
/10

Population: 17,894
% Undergrad Pop.: 14.2% (13th best)
Median Rent: $801 (12th best)
Unemployment Rate: 508.3% (24th best)
Crime Rank: 27th best
More on Tiffin: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Tiffin University, Heidelberg University, Tiffin Academy of Hair Design

Alliance, OH
Source: Wikipedia User Sanfranman59 | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 21,603
% Undergrad Pop.: 10.8% (17th best)
Median Rent: $773 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 399.5% (13th best)
Crime Rank: 34th best
More on Alliance: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: University of Mount Union, Community Services Division-Alliance City, Raphael's School of Beauty Culture Inc-Alliance

Oberlin, OH
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
8
/10

Population: 8,194
% Undergrad Pop.: 35.5% (5th best)
Median Rent: $986 (42nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 464.8% (19th best)
Crime Rank: 15th best
More on Oberlin: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Oberlin College, Lorain County Joint Vocational School District

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

To crunch our data on Ohio's best college towns, we used Saturday Night Science to 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 45 places in Ohio 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 Ohio For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Ohio.

And it looks like Bowling Green placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Ohio are Bowling Green, Kent, Cincinnati, Oxford, Parma, Dayton, Youngstown, Tiffin, Alliance, and Oberlin.

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 Ohio, starting with the absolute worst, Defiance:

  1. Defiance
  2. Wilmington
  3. Middletown
  4. Painesville
  5. East Liverpool
  6. Circleville
  7. Eastlake
  8. Springfield
  9. Salem
  10. Portsmouth

For more reading, check out:

45 Best College Towns In Ohio

Rank City Population
1 Bowling Green, OH 30157
2 Kent, OH 27336
3 Cincinnati, OH 308870
4 Oxford, OH 22051
5 Parma, OH 80587
6 Dayton, OH 137305
7 Youngstown, OH 60048
8 Tiffin, OH 17894
9 Alliance, OH 21603
10 Oberlin, OH 8194
11 North Canton, OH 17773
12 Blue Ash, OH 13325
13 Athens, OH 22698
14 Sylvania, OH 19042
15 Berea, OH 18550
16 Cleveland, OH 370365
17 Newark, OH 50062
18 Celina, OH 10974
19 Toledo, OH 269962
20 Steubenville, OH 18175
21 Ashland, OH 19270
22 Wooster, OH 27021
23 Kettering, OH 57707
24 Centerville, OH 24510
25 Marietta, OH 13366
26 Mansfield, OH 47630
27 New Philadelphia, OH 17602
28 University Heights, OH 13649
29 Akron, OH 190273
30 Canton, OH 70589
31 Hamilton, OH 63149
32 Ashtabula, OH 18003
33 Columbus, OH 902449
34 Mount Vernon, OH 16861
35 Urbana, OH 11156
36 Portsmouth, OH 18130
37 Salem, OH 11861
38 Springfield, OH 58645
39 Eastlake, OH 17625
40 Circleville, OH 14017
41 East Liverpool, OH 9969
42 Painesville, OH 20387
43 Middletown, OH 50514
44 Wilmington, OH 12669
45 Defiance, OH 16852

Best College Towns By State

Enjoy The Snack?