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

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

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

  1. Clearwater, FL
  2. St. Petersburg, FL
  3. Tampa, FL
  4. Cocoa, FL
  5. Sarasota, FL
  6. Gainesville, FL
  7. Miramar, FL
  8. Tallahassee, FL
  9. Pensacola, FL
  10. Niceville, FL

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

Finally, if you live in Leesburg, FL - it's officially the worst college town in Florida. Sorry, Leesburg!

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Florida For 2024

Clearwater, FL
Source: Wikipedia User 2candle | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 116,984
% Undergrad Pop.: 17.0% (16th best)
Median Rent: $1,389 (23rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 467.0% (18th best)
Crime Rank: 16th best
More on Clearwater: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: St Petersburg College, Pinellas Technical College-Clearwater, National Aviation Academy of Tampa Bay

St. Petersburg, FL
Source: Wikipedia User Wknight94 | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
8
/10

Population: 259,343
% Undergrad Pop.: 0.0% (47th best)
Median Rent: $1,410 (25th best)
Unemployment Rate: 461.4% (16th best)
Crime Rank: 29th best
More on St. Petersburg: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: University of South Florida-St Petersburg, Southeastern College-St. Petersburg

Tampa, FL
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 388,768
% Undergrad Pop.: 9.1% (22nd best)
Median Rent: $1,422 (28th best)
Unemployment Rate: 518.8% (25th best)
Crime Rank: 10th best
More on Tampa: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: University of South Florida-Main Campus, Hillsborough Community College, The University of Tampa

Cocoa, FL
Source: Wikipedia User Michael Rivera | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 19,073
% Undergrad Pop.: 69.5% (best)
Median Rent: $1,044 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 439.3% (14th best)
Crime Rank: 49th best
More on Cocoa: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Eastern Florida State College

Sarasota, FL
Source: Wikipedia User Roger from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A. | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 55,508
% Undergrad Pop.: 1.7% (35th best)
Median Rent: $1,417 (26th best)
Unemployment Rate: 293.2% (4th best)
Crime Rank: 39th best
More on Sarasota: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Suncoast Technical College, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota School of Massage Therapy

Gainesville, FL
Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 142,414
% Undergrad Pop.: 31.9% (5th best)
Median Rent: $1,151 (10th best)
Unemployment Rate: 553.3% (34th best)
Crime Rank: 43rd best
More on Gainesville: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: University of Florida, Santa Fe College, City College-Gainesville

Miramar, FL
Source: Wikipedia User | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility
8
/10

Population: 135,158
% Undergrad Pop.: 0.0% (47th best)
Median Rent: $1,840 (46th best)
Unemployment Rate: 424.0% (13th best)
Crime Rank: 2nd best
More on Miramar: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Concorde Career Institute-Miramar, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts-Miami, Brown Mackie College-Miami

Tallahassee, FL
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 198,259
% Undergrad Pop.: 19.0% (12th best)
Median Rent: $1,165 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 649.7% (42nd best)
Crime Rank: 38th best
More on Tallahassee: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Florida State University, Tallahassee Community College, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Pensacola, FL
Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 54,059
% Undergrad Pop.: 31.0% (6th best)
Median Rent: $1,150 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 554.7% (35th best)
Crime Rank: 33rd best
More on Pensacola: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Pensacola State College, The University of West Florida, George Stone Technical Center

Niceville, FL
Source: Wikipedia User Skye Marthaler | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
9
/10

Population: 15,804
% Undergrad Pop.: 42.2% (3rd best)
Median Rent: $1,511 (34th best)
Unemployment Rate: 123.5% (best)
Crime Rank: best
More on Niceville: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Northwest Florida State College

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

To crunch our data on Florida'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 41 places in Florida 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 Florida For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Florida.

And it looks like Clearwater placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Florida are Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Cocoa, Sarasota, Gainesville, Miramar, Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Niceville.

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 Florida, starting with the absolute worst, Leesburg:

  1. Leesburg
  2. West Palm Beach
  3. Ocala
  4. Kissimmee
  5. Trinity
  6. Lake Wales
  7. Bradenton
  8. North Miami
  9. Lakeland
  10. Palatka

For more reading, check out:

41 Best College Towns In Florida

Rank City Population
1 Clearwater, FL 116984
2 St. Petersburg, FL 259343
3 Tampa, FL 388768
4 Cocoa, FL 19073
5 Sarasota, FL 55508
6 Gainesville, FL 142414
7 Miramar, FL 135158
8 Tallahassee, FL 198259
9 Pensacola, FL 54059
10 Niceville, FL 15804
11 Fort Lauderdale, FL 182673
12 Fort Myers, FL 88699
13 Winter Park, FL 29985
14 Naples, FL 19315
15 Boca Raton, FL 97980
16 Orlando, FL 307738
17 Doral, FL 74891
18 Sanford, FL 61272
19 Temple Terrace, FL 26818
20 Coral Gables, FL 49696
21 Orange Park, FL 9047
22 Daytona Beach, FL 73329
23 Melbourne, FL 84982
24 Miami, FL 443665
25 Jacksonville, FL 950203
26 Lake City, FL 12307
27 Marianna, FL 6681
28 Avon Park, FL 9789
29 Deland, FL 38392
30 Miami Gardens, FL 111618
31 Pompano Beach, FL 111790
32 Palatka, FL 10471
33 Lakeland, FL 114404
34 North Miami, FL 59854
35 Bradenton, FL 55795
36 Lake Wales, FL 16455
37 Trinity, FL 18672
38 Kissimmee, FL 78478
39 Ocala, FL 63504
40 West Palm Beach, FL 117588
41 Leesburg, FL 27226

Best College Towns By State

Enjoy The Snack?