Tennessee Cities Named Among Best College Towns In America

When deciding where to go to college, many factors come into play, such as tuition, location, and job opportunities, just to name a few. A new study released December 8 aims to help future students make the best choice for their future education by compiling a list of the best college towns.

Comparing more than 400 cities across the country, using a variety of factors, Wallethub's study ranks "2021's Best College Towns & Cities in America."

Several cities in the Volunteer state made the list, with one even breaking in the top 20 of large cities. Nashville, home of Vanderbilt University, Tennessee State University, Belmont University, and more, ranked Number 20 for the best college town in the Large City category.

The Tennessee cities that made the list are included below and ranked according on city size.

Large:

• Nashville (20)
• Memphis (62)

Midsize:

• Knoxville (21)
• Murfreesboro (44)
• Chattanooga (68)
• Clarksville (87)

Small city:

• Johnson City (108)

The overall best college town, according to Wallethub, is Ann Arbor, Michigan; Austin, Texas; Provo, Utah; Irvine, California; and Ithaca, New York round out the top 5.

To determine the list, Wallethub compared 415 cities of varying size across the country using three factors: wallet friendliness, social environment, and academic and economic opportunities.

These factors where then evaluated using 30 relevant metrics, including cost of living, student loan debt, students per capita, shopping centers per capita, crime rate, earning potential for college graduates, brain drain, job-growth rate, and more.

Check out the full list of cities here.

Photo: Getty Images