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 Texas 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 Texas 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 Texas for 2022.
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 Canyon, College Station and McAllen - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Canyon ranks in terms of the best college town in America.
Finally, if you live in Terrell, TX - it's officially the worst college town in Texas. Sorry, Terrell!
Read on to find out more or for more on Texas check out:
Population: 15,648
% Undergrad Pop.: 35.9% (3rd best)
Median Rent: $821 (8th best)
Unemployment Rate: 330.0% (5th best)
Crime Rank: 2nd best
More on Canyon: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: West Texas A & M University
Population: 115,802
% Undergrad Pop.: 31.3% (4th best)
Median Rent: $1,001 (30th best)
Unemployment Rate: 466.3% (22nd best)
Crime Rank: 14th best
More on College Station: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Texas A & M University-College Station, Vista College - College Station
Population: 142,557
% Undergrad Pop.: 7.9% (19th best)
Median Rent: $829 (10th best)
Unemployment Rate: 567.9% (36th best)
Crime Rank: 11th best
More on Mcallen: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: South Texas College, South Texas Vocational Technical Institute-McAllen, Brightwood College-McAllen
Population: 397,269
% Undergrad Pop.: 4.0% (28th best)
Median Rent: $1,089 (36th best)
Unemployment Rate: 520.7% (28th best)
Crime Rank: 38th best
More on Arlington: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: The University of Texas at Arlington, ITT Technical Institute-Arlington, Arlington Baptist College
Population: 20,194
% Undergrad Pop.: 22.9% (8th best)
Median Rent: $655 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 509.9% (26th best)
Crime Rank: 20th best
More on Plainview: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Wayland Baptist University
Population: 64,053
% Undergrad Pop.: 30.3% (6th best)
Median Rent: $1,099 (37th best)
Unemployment Rate: 739.6% (50th best)
Crime Rank: 27th best
More on San Marcos: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Texas State University, Total Transformation Institute of Cosmetology
Population: 104,657
% Undergrad Pop.: 4.9% (24th best)
Median Rent: $828 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 496.4% (25th best)
Crime Rank: 46th best
More on Wichita Falls: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Midwestern State University
Population: 139,734
% Undergrad Pop.: 18.3% (10th best)
Median Rent: $1,121 (43rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 492.1% (24th best)
Crime Rank: 20th best
More on Denton: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: University of North Texas, Texas Woman's University, Ogle School Hair Skin Nails-Denton
Population: 9,473
% Undergrad Pop.: 46.0% (2nd best)
Median Rent: $831 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 756.4% (52nd best)
Crime Rank: 20th best
More on Commerce: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Texas A & M University-Commerce
Population: 97,734
% Undergrad Pop.: 11.4% (12th best)
Median Rent: $810 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 698.5% (45th best)
Crime Rank: 28th best
More on Edinburg: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
To crunch our data on Texas'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 45 places in Texas 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:
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 Texas For 2022".
And it looks like Canyon placed Summa Cum Laude.
If you're looking for the best college towns in Texas, 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 Texas, starting with the absolute worst, Terrell:
For more reading, check out:
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