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

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

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

  1. Bloomington, IN
  2. Vincennes, IN
  3. Greencastle, IN
  4. Muncie, IN
  5. Winona Lake, IN
  6. Evansville, IN
  7. Westville, IN
  8. South Bend, IN
  9. Hammond, IN
  10. Huntington, IN

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

Finally, if you live in Anderson, IN - it's officially the worst college town in Indiana. Sorry, Anderson!

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Indiana For 2024

Bloomington, IN
Source: Wikipedia User Yahala | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 79,006
% Undergrad Pop.: 37.2% (4th best)
Median Rent: $1,112 (29th best)
Unemployment Rate: 647.5% (22nd best)
Crime Rank: 19th best
More on Bloomington: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Indiana University-Bloomington, Tricoci University of Beauty Cuture LLC-Bloomington, Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington

Vincennes, IN
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 16,715
% Undergrad Pop.: 54.9% (3rd best)
Median Rent: $757 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 533.8% (12th best)
Crime Rank: 17th best
More on Vincennes: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Vincennes University, Vincennes Beauty College, Purdue University - Purdue Polytechnic Vincennes

Greencastle, IN
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 9,865
% Undergrad Pop.: 22.5% (7th best)
Median Rent: $871 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 113.1% (2nd best)
Crime Rank: 10th best
More on Greencastle: Real Estate | Cost Of Living

Colleges: DePauw University

Muncie, IN
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 65,167
% Undergrad Pop.: 25.1% (5th best)
Median Rent: $842 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 820.0% (26th best)
Crime Rank: 22nd best
More on Muncie: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Ball State University, Ross Medical Education Center-Muncie, Ivy Tech Community College-East Central

Winona Lake, IN
Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Latham | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility
9
/10

Population: 5,077
% Undergrad Pop.: 23.1% (6th best)
Median Rent: $1,000 (23rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 230.2% (3rd best)
Crime Rank: 2nd best
More on Winona Lake: Real Estate | Crime Report

Colleges: Grace College and Theological Seminary

Evansville, IN
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 116,906
% Undergrad Pop.: 9.5% (14th best)
Median Rent: $917 (18th best)
Unemployment Rate: 567.6% (16th best)
Crime Rank: 28th best
More on Evansville: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: University of Southern Indiana, University of Evansville, Rogers Academy of Hair Design

Westville, IN
Source: Wikipedia User Chris Light at en.wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 5,885
% Undergrad Pop.: 58.0% (2nd best)
Median Rent: $850 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 885.3% (28th best)
Crime Rank: best
More on Westville: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Purdue University-North Central Campus

South Bend, IN
Source: Wikipedia User Khoa Huynh | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 103,084
% Undergrad Pop.: 5.8% (18th best)
Median Rent: $935 (20th best)
Unemployment Rate: 549.3% (14th best)
Crime Rank: 30th best
More on South Bend: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Indiana University-South Bend, Brown Mackie College-South Bend, ITT Technical Institute-South Bend

Hammond, IN
Source: Wikipedia User HammondMan | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 77,390
% Undergrad Pop.: 10.5% (13th best)
Median Rent: $1,006 (24th best)
Unemployment Rate: 634.5% (2best)
Crime Rank: 26th best
More on Hammond: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Purdue University-Calumet Campus, Brightwood College-Hammond

Huntington, IN
Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 17,017
% Undergrad Pop.: 5.3% (20th best)
Median Rent: $751 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 523.0% (11th best)
Crime Rank: 4th best
More on Huntington: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Colleges: Huntington University

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

To crunch our data on Indiana'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 28 places in Indiana 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 Indiana For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Indiana.

And it looks like Bloomington placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Indiana are Bloomington, Vincennes, Greencastle, Muncie, Winona Lake, Evansville, Westville, South Bend, Hammond, and Huntington.

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 Indiana, starting with the absolute worst, Anderson:

  1. Anderson
  2. Franklin
  3. Angola
  4. Merrillville
  5. Jeffersonville
  6. Indianapolis
  7. Kokomo
  8. Goshen
  9. Rensselaer
  10. Fort Wayne

For more reading, check out:

28 Best College Towns In Indiana

Rank City Population
1 Bloomington, IN 79006
2 Vincennes, IN 16715
3 Greencastle, IN 9865
4 Muncie, IN 65167
5 Winona Lake, IN 5077
6 Evansville, IN 116906
7 Westville, IN 5885
8 South Bend, IN 103084
9 Hammond, IN 77390
10 Huntington, IN 17017
11 Terre Haute, IN 58599
12 Mishawaka, IN 50899
13 Marion, IN 27528
14 Crawfordsville, IN 16335
15 Valparaiso, IN 33991
16 Richmond, IN 35642
17 North Manchester, IN 5017
18 Gary, IN 69136
19 Fort Wayne, IN 264514
20 Rensselaer, IN 5330
21 Goshen, IN 34704
22 Kokomo, IN 59534
23 Indianapolis, IN 882006
24 Jeffersonville, IN 49771
25 Merrillville, IN 36214
26 Angola, IN 9317
27 Franklin, IN 26073
28 Anderson, IN 55011

Best College Towns By State

Enjoy The Snack?