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

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

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

1. Towson, MD
2. College Park, MD
3. Adelphi, MD
4. Baltimore, MD
5. Takoma Park, MD
6. Frostburg, MD
7. Westminster, MD
8. Frederick, MD
9. Salisbury, MD
10. Suitland, MD

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

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Maryland For 2024

Colleges: Towson University, Fortis Institute-Towson, Brightwood College-Towson

Colleges: University of Maryland-College Park

Colleges: University of Maryland-University College

Colleges: The Community College of Baltimore County, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Baltimore City Community College

Colleges: Washington Adventist University

Colleges: Frostburg State University

Colleges: Carroll Community College, McDaniel College

Colleges: Frederick Community College, Hood College, Frederick School of Cosmetology

Colleges: Salisbury University, Wor-Wic Community College, Delmarva Beauty Academy

Colleges: Strayer University-Maryland

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

To crunch our data on Maryland'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 11 places in Maryland 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 Maryland For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Maryland.

And it looks like Towson placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Maryland are Towson, College Park, Adelphi, Baltimore, Takoma Park, Frostburg, Westminster, Frederick, Salisbury, and Suitland.

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:

• Fastest Growing Cities In Maryland
• Best College Towns In Maryland
• Gayest Cities In Maryland

11 Best College Towns In Maryland

Rank	City	Population
1	Towson, MD	57617
2	College Park, MD	34416
3	Adelphi, MD	16944
4	Baltimore, MD	584548
5	Takoma Park, MD	17542
6	Frostburg, MD	7118
7	Westminster, MD	20099
8	Frederick, MD	78390
9	Salisbury, MD	32960
10	Suitland, MD	25839
11	Laurel, MD	29581