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

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

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

1. Morris, MN
2. Marshall, MN
3. New Ulm, MN
4. Crookston, MN
5. Northfield, MN
6. Minneapolis, MN
7. Rochester, MN
8. Plymouth, MN
9. Woodbury, MN
10. Bloomington, MN

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

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Minnesota For 2024

Colleges: University of Minnesota-Morris

Colleges: Southwest Minnesota State University

Colleges: Martin Luther College

Colleges: University of Minnesota-Crookston

Colleges: St Olaf College, Carleton College

Colleges: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Augsburg College

Colleges: Rochester Community and Technical College, Crossroads College, Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences

Colleges: Minnesota School of Business-Plymouth, PCI Academy-Plymouth, Minnesota School of Cosmetology-Plymouth Campus

Colleges: Globe University-Woodbury

Colleges: Normandale Community College, National American University-Bloomington, Academy College

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

To crunch our data on Minnesota'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 19 places in Minnesota 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 Minnesota For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Minnesota.

And it looks like Morris placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Minnesota are Morris, Marshall, New Ulm, Crookston, Northfield, Minneapolis, Rochester, Plymouth, Woodbury, and Bloomington.

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 Minnesota
• Best Places To Live In Minnesota
• Most Dangerous Cities In Minnesota

19 Best College Towns In Minnesota

Rank	City	Population
1	Morris, MN	5094
2	Marshall, MN	13647
3	New Ulm, MN	14055
4	Crookston, MN	7472
5	Northfield, MN	20518
6	Minneapolis, MN	426877
7	Rochester, MN	120848
8	Plymouth, MN	79918
9	Woodbury, MN	75549
10	Bloomington, MN	89244
11	Winona, MN	26083
12	Richfield, MN	36809
13	Eagan, MN	68262
14	Blaine, MN	70047
15	Duluth, MN	86772
16	St. Cloud, MN	68910
17	Bemidji, MN	15441
18	Brooklyn Center, MN	33109
19	Waite Park, MN	8290