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

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

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

1. Waltham, MA
2. Wellesley, MA
3. Cambridge, MA
4. Boston, MA
5. Northampton, MA
6. Lowell, MA
7. Brookline, MA
8. Milton, MA
9. Needham, MA
10. Longmeadow, MA

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

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Massachusetts For 2024

Colleges: Bentley University, Brandeis University

Colleges: Wellesley College, Babson College

Colleges: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lesley University

Colleges: Northeastern University, Boston University, University of Massachusetts-Boston

Colleges: Smith College, Marinello School of Beauty-Northampton

Colleges: University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Lowell Academy Hairstyling Institute, Lincoln Technical Institute-Lowell

Colleges: Newbury College, The New England Institute of Art, Hellenic College-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology

Colleges: Curry College, Laboure College

Colleges: Franklin W Olin College of Engineering

Colleges: Bay Path University

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

To crunch our data on Massachusetts'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 18 places in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Massachusetts.

And it looks like Waltham placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Massachusetts are Waltham, Wellesley, Cambridge, Boston, Northampton, Lowell, Brookline, Milton, Needham, and Longmeadow.

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:

• Worst Small Towns In Massachusetts
• Best Places To Live In Massachusetts
• Conservative Cities In Massachusetts

18 Best College Towns In Massachusetts

Rank	City	Population
1	Waltham, MA	64711
2	Wellesley, MA	29862
3	Cambridge, MA	117962
4	Boston, MA	665945
5	Northampton, MA	28245
6	Lowell, MA	114737
7	Brookline, MA	62698
8	Milton, MA	28450
9	Needham, MA	31957
10	Longmeadow, MA	15789
11	Worcester, MA	204191
12	North Adams, MA	12937
13	Chicopee, MA	55441
14	Haverhill, MA	67273
15	Newton, MA	88453
16	Springfield, MA	155305
17	Medford, MA	61748
18	Quincy, MA	100981