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

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

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

  1. Charleston, IL
  2. Champaign, IL
  3. Macomb, IL
  4. Normal, IL
  5. Lisle, IL
  6. Galesburg, IL
  7. Lincoln, IL
  8. Evanston, IL
  9. Greenville, IL
  10. Wheaton, IL

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

Finally, if you live in Skokie, IL - it's officially the worst college town in Illinois. Sorry, Skokie!

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Illinois For 2024

Charleston, IL
Source: Wikipedia User jrmyers | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 17,795
% Undergrad Pop.: 52.5% (3rd best)
Median Rent: $823 (12th best)
Unemployment Rate: 653.4% (29th best)
Crime Rank: 7th best
More on Charleston: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Eastern Illinois University

Champaign, IL
Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
8
/10

Population: 88,628
% Undergrad Pop.: 32.1% (7th best)
Median Rent: $1,056 (18th best)
Unemployment Rate: 479.4% (16th best)
Crime Rank: 32nd best
More on Champaign: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Parkland College, Regency Beauty Institute-Champaign

Macomb, IL
Source: Wikipedia User | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 15,207
% Undergrad Pop.: 70.0% (2nd best)
Median Rent: $674 (5th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1130.9% (42nd best)
Crime Rank: 5th best
More on Macomb: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Western Illinois University

Normal, IL
Source: Wikipedia User Willjay | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility
8.5
/10

Population: 52,920
% Undergrad Pop.: 34.1% (6th best)
Median Rent: $924 (16th best)
Unemployment Rate: 388.3% (11th best)
Crime Rank: 28th best
More on Normal: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Illinois State University, Heartland Community College, Paul Mitchell the School-Normal

Lisle, IL
Source: Wikipedia User | LGPL
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 23,499
% Undergrad Pop.: 8.5% (16th best)
Median Rent: $1,485 (3best)
Unemployment Rate: 506.1% (18th best)
Crime Rank: 9th best
More on Lisle: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Benedictine University, Universal Technical Institute of Illinois Inc, Empire Beauty School-Lisle

Galesburg, IL
Source: Wikipedia User Kelly Martin | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 29,923
% Undergrad Pop.: 4.0% (23rd best)
Median Rent: $679 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 522.9% (19th best)
Crime Rank: 25th best
More on Galesburg: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Carl Sandburg College, Knox College

Lincoln, IL
Source: Wikipedia User Katherine Johnson from Springfield, IL | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 13,371
% Undergrad Pop.: 12.4% (10th best)
Median Rent: $751 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 554.7% (22nd best)
Crime Rank: 11th best
More on Lincoln: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Lincoln College, Lincoln Christian University

Evanston, IL
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
7.5
/10

Population: 77,181
% Undergrad Pop.: 11.7% (12th best)
Median Rent: $1,625 (34th best)
Unemployment Rate: 605.3% (26th best)
Crime Rank: 35th best
More on Evanston: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Northwestern University, Pivot Point Academy-Evanston, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Greenville, IL
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 7,121
% Undergrad Pop.: 15.9% (9th best)
Median Rent: $672 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 268.5% (3rd best)
Crime Rank: 15th best
More on Greenville: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Greenville College

Wheaton, IL
Source: Wikipedia User Katherine Johnson from Springfield, IL | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility
10
/10

Population: 53,673
% Undergrad Pop.: 4.5% (22nd best)
Median Rent: $1,673 (36th best)
Unemployment Rate: 351.0% (9th best)
Crime Rank: 2nd best
More on Wheaton: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Wheaton College

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

To crunch our data on Illinois'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 33 places in Illinois 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 Illinois For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Illinois.

And it looks like Charleston placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Illinois are Charleston, Champaign, Macomb, Normal, Lisle, Galesburg, Lincoln, Evanston, Greenville, and Wheaton.

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 Illinois, starting with the absolute worst, Skokie:

  1. Skokie
  2. Decatur
  3. Rockford
  4. Deerfield
  5. Joliet
  6. Peoria
  7. Elgin
  8. Naperville
  9. Palos Heights
  10. Bloomington

For more reading, check out:

33 Best College Towns In Illinois

Rank City Population
1 Charleston, IL 17795
2 Champaign, IL 88628
3 Macomb, IL 15207
4 Normal, IL 52920
5 Lisle, IL 23499
6 Galesburg, IL 29923
7 Lincoln, IL 13371
8 Evanston, IL 77181
9 Greenville, IL 7121
10 Wheaton, IL 53673
11 River Forest, IL 11568
12 Elmhurst, IL 45648
13 Edwardsville, IL 26622
14 Chicago, IL 2721914
15 Aurora, IL 181405
16 Lake Forest, IL 19436
17 Carlinville, IL 5724
18 Springfield, IL 114214
19 Monmouth, IL 8764
20 Carbondale, IL 22039
21 Jacksonville, IL 17639
22 Bourbonnais, IL 18125
23 Schaumburg, IL 77571
24 Bloomington, IL 78788
25 Palos Heights, IL 11965
26 Naperville, IL 149089
27 Elgin, IL 114190
28 Peoria, IL 113054
29 Joliet, IL 150221
30 Deerfield, IL 19173
31 Rockford, IL 148173
32 Decatur, IL 70975
33 Skokie, IL 67076

Best College Towns By State

Enjoy The Snack?