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

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

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

1. Jacksonville, AL
2. Troy, AL
3. Auburn, AL
4. Montevallo, AL
5. Birmingham, AL
6. Huntsville, AL
7. Tuscaloosa, AL
8. Tuskegee, AL
9. Mobile, AL
10. Talladega, AL

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

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Alabama For 2024

Colleges: Jacksonville State University

Colleges: Troy University, Troy University-Online, Troy University-Support Locations

Colleges: Auburn University

Colleges: University of Montevallo

Colleges: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jefferson State Community College, Samford University

Colleges: University of Alabama in Huntsville, Oakwood University, J F Drake State Community and Technical College

Colleges: The University of Alabama, Shelton State Community College, Stillman College

Colleges: Tuskegee University

Colleges: University of South Alabama, Bishop State Community College, University of Mobile

Colleges: Talladega College

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

To crunch our data on Alabama'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 12 places in Alabama 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 Alabama For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Alabama.

And it looks like Jacksonville placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Alabama are Jacksonville, Troy, Auburn, Montevallo, Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Tuskegee, Mobile, and Talladega.

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:

• Most Expensive Places To Live In Alabama
• Alabama Cities With The Largest Hispanic Population
• Most Dangerous Cities In Alabama

12 Best College Towns In Alabama

Rank	City	Population
1	Jacksonville, AL	14227
2	Troy, AL	17757
3	Auburn, AL	76660
4	Montevallo, AL	7288
5	Birmingham, AL	200431
6	Huntsville, AL	215025
7	Tuscaloosa, AL	105797
8	Tuskegee, AL	9173
9	Mobile, AL	186316
10	Talladega, AL	15071
11	Fairfield, AL	9975
12	Montgomery, AL	199819