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

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

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

1. Mesa, AZ
2. Glendale, AZ
3. Tucson, AZ
4. Phoenix, AZ
5. Tempe, AZ
6. Scottsdale, AZ
7. Chandler, AZ
8. Flagstaff, AZ

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

Even though there are only 8 cities on our list, you need to remember there are another 435 places in Arizona that don't even have a college. One might say you gotta be in it in to win it.

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Arizona For 2024

Colleges: Mesa Community College, Arizona State University-Polytechnic, Pima Medical Institute-Mesa

Colleges: Glendale Community College, Arizona State University-West, Arizona Automotive Institute

Colleges: Pima Community College, University of Arizona, Pima Medical Institute-Tucson

Colleges: Phoenix College, GateWay Community College, Paradise Valley Community College

Colleges: Arizona State University-Tempe, Rio Salado College, Western International University

Colleges: Scottsdale Community College, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts-Scottsdale, Cortiva Institute-Scottsdale

Colleges: Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Golf Academy of America-Phoenix, International Baptist College and Seminary

Colleges: Northern Arizona University, Coconino Community College, CollegeAmerica-Flagstaff

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

To crunch our data on Arizona'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 8 places in Arizona 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 Arizona For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Arizona.

And it looks like Mesa placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Arizona are Mesa, Glendale, Tucson, Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler, and Flagstaff.

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:

• Whitest Cities In Arizona
• Best Places To Retire In Arizona
• Richest Cities In Arizona

8 Best College Towns In Arizona

Rank	City	Population
1	Mesa, AZ	503390
2	Glendale, AZ	248083
3	Tucson, AZ	541033
4	Phoenix, AZ	1609456
5	Tempe, AZ	181005
6	Scottsdale, AZ	240537
7	Chandler, AZ	275618
8	Flagstaff, AZ	76177