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

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

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

1. Santa Barbara, CA
2. Berkeley, CA
3. Chico, CA
4. Davis, CA
5. Pasadena, CA
6. Stanford, CA
7. San Marcos, CA
8. Long Beach, CA
9. Pomona, CA
10. Turlock, CA

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

Finally, if you live in Laguna Beach, CA - it's officially the worst college town in California. Sorry, Laguna Beach!

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In California For 2024

Colleges: University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara City College, Westmont College

Colleges: University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley City College, Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology

Colleges: California State University-Chico, Marinello School of Beauty-Chico

Colleges: University of California-Davis

Colleges: Pasadena City College, Art Center College of Design, California Institute of Technology

Colleges: Stanford University

Colleges: Palomar College, California State University-San Marcos, Palomar Institute of Cosmetology

Colleges: California State University-Long Beach, Long Beach City College, John Wesley International Barber and Beauty College

Colleges: California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, Pomona Unified School District Adult and Career Education, North-West College-Pomona

Colleges: California State University-Stanislaus, Adrian's College of Beauty Turlock

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

To crunch our data on California'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 70 places in California 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 California For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in California.

And it looks like Santa Barbara placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in California are Santa Barbara, Berkeley, Chico, Davis, Pasadena, Stanford, San Marcos, Long Beach, Pomona, and Turlock.

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 California, starting with the absolute worst, Laguna Beach:

1. Laguna Beach
2. Los Alamitos
3. Malibu
4. Emeryville
5. Vallejo
6. Burbank
7. Ontario
8. Alhambra
9. Redlands
10. Redding

For more reading, check out:

• Most Liberal Cities In California
• Most African American Cities In California
• Richest Cities In California

70 Best College Towns In California

Rank	City	Population
1	Santa Barbara, CA	88640
2	Berkeley, CA	121385
3	Chico, CA	102790
4	Davis, CA	67203
5	Pasadena, CA	137554
6	Stanford, CA	17255
7	San Marcos, CA	94360
8	Long Beach, CA	462293
9	Pomona, CA	149831
10	Turlock, CA	72504
11	Santa Ana, CA	311379
12	Sacramento, CA	523600
13	Rosemead, CA	51043
14	Santa Cruz, CA	61367
15	San Jose, CA	1001176
16	La Mirada, CA	47644
17	San Luis Obispo, CA	47529
18	San Francisco, CA	851036
19	Cypress, CA	49955
20	Irvine, CA	304527
21	Anaheim, CA	347111
22	Whittier, CA	86459
23	Azusa, CA	49704
24	Escondido, CA	151114
25	San Diego, CA	1383987
26	Fresno, CA	541528
27	Claremont, CA	36891
28	Sunnyvale, CA	154573
29	Carson, CA	94475
30	Seaside, CA	32291
31	Fullerton, CA	142280
32	Riverside, CA	316076
33	Atherton, CA	7124
34	Hayward, CA	160602
35	Signal Hill, CA	11678
36	Los Angeles, CA	3881041
37	Rocklin, CA	71676
38	Oakland, CA	437825
39	Orange, CA	138728
40	La Verne, CA	31239
41	Santa Paula, CA	30788
42	San Rafael, CA	60891
43	Camarillo, CA	70622
44	Thousand Oaks, CA	126532
45	Moraga, CA	16859
46	San Bernardino, CA	221041
47	San Dimas, CA	34466
48	Alameda, CA	77565
49	Santa Clara, CA	128058
50	Merced, CA	87686
51	Santa Monica, CA	92168
52	Santa Maria, CA	109543
53	Bakersfield, CA	404321
54	Stockton, CA	320030
55	Santee, CA	59497
56	Costa Mesa, CA	111490
57	Arcata, CA	18536
58	Belmont, CA	27820
59	Beverly Hills, CA	32406
60	Santa Clarita, CA	225850
61	Redding, CA	93327
62	Redlands, CA	73234
63	Alhambra, CA	82295
64	Ontario, CA	176326
65	Burbank, CA	106389
66	Vallejo, CA	125132
67	Emeryville, CA	12840
68	Malibu, CA	10698
69	Los Alamitos, CA	11728
70	Laguna Beach, CA	22943