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

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

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

1. Kenner, LA
2. Natchitoches, LA
3. Thibodaux, LA
4. Ruston, LA
5. Hammond, LA
6. New Orleans, LA
7. Baton Rouge, LA
8. Lake Charles, LA
9. Monroe, LA
10. Grambling, LA

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

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Louisiana For 2024

Colleges: Herzing University-Kenner, John Jay Beauty College, Healthcare Training Institute

Colleges: Northwestern State University of Louisiana

Colleges: Nicholls State University

Colleges: Louisiana Tech University, Pat Goins Ruston Beauty School

Colleges: Southeastern Louisiana University, Compass Career College

Colleges: Delgado Community College, University of New Orleans, Tulane University of Louisiana

Colleges: Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, Southern University and A & M College, Our Lady of the Lake College

Colleges: McNeese State University, SOWELA Technical Community College, Delta School of Business and Technology

Colleges: University of Louisiana at Monroe, McCann School of Business & Technology, Cloyd's Beauty School 3 Inc

Colleges: Grambling State University

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

To crunch our data on Louisiana'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 14 places in Louisiana 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 Louisiana For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Louisiana.

And it looks like Kenner placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Louisiana are Kenner, Natchitoches, Thibodaux, Ruston, Hammond, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Grambling.

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:

• Conservative Cities In Louisiana
• Best Places To Retire In Louisiana
• Safest Places In Louisiana

14 Best College Towns In Louisiana

Rank	City	Population
1	Kenner, LA	65785
2	Natchitoches, LA	17908
3	Thibodaux, LA	15738
4	Ruston, LA	22282
5	Hammond, LA	20239
6	New Orleans, LA	380408
7	Baton Rouge, LA	225500
8	Lake Charles, LA	82430
9	Monroe, LA	47631
10	Grambling, LA	5315
11	Lafayette, LA	121706
12	Shreveport, LA	186183
13	Alexandria, LA	45133
14	Pineville, LA	14357