The 10 Best College Towns In Colorado 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 Colorado is home to a handful of them.

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

Instead, ride along with us as we determine which college towns in Colorado 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 Colorado For 2024

1. Durango, CO
2. Denver, CO
3. Boulder, CO
4. Fort Collins, CO
5. Glenwood Springs, CO
6. Greeley, CO
7. Alamosa, CO
8. Grand Junction, CO
9. Pueblo, CO
10. Colorado Springs, CO

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

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

• Best Places To Live In Colorado
• Best Counties To Live In Colorado
• Cheapest Places To Live In Colorado

The 10 Best College Towns In Colorado For 2024

Colleges: Fort Lewis College

Colleges: Metropolitan State University of Denver, University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, Emily Griffith Technical College

Colleges: University of Colorado Boulder, Naropa University, Montessori Education Center of the Rockies

Colleges: Colorado State University-Fort Collins, IBMC College, Hair Dynamics Education Center

Colleges: Colorado Mountain College, Glenwood Beauty Academy

Colleges: University of Northern Colorado, Aims Community College, Cheeks International Academy of Beauty Culture-Greeley

Colleges: Adams State University

Colleges: Colorado Mesa University, Intellitec College-Grand Junction, The Salon Professional Academy-Grand Junction

Colleges: Colorado State University-Pueblo, Pueblo Community College, Colorado Technical University

Colleges: Pikes Peak Community College, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado College

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

To crunch our data on Colorado'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 14 places in Colorado 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 Colorado For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Colorado.

And it looks like Durango placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Colorado are Durango, Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Glenwood Springs, Greeley, Alamosa, Grand Junction, Pueblo, and Colorado Springs.

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:

• Best Cities For Singles In Colorado
• Best Places To Retire In Colorado
• Best Places To Raise A Family In Colorado

14 Best College Towns In Colorado

Rank	City	Population
1	Durango, CO	19148
2	Denver, CO	710800
3	Boulder, CO	106598
4	Fort Collins, CO	168758
5	Glenwood Springs, CO	10100
6	Greeley, CO	107949
7	Alamosa, CO	9792
8	Grand Junction, CO	65918
9	Pueblo, CO	111430
10	Colorado Springs, CO	479612
11	Golden, CO	20461
12	Aurora, CO	387349
13	Lakewood, CO	156149
14	Westminster, CO	115502