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

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

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

1. Maryville, MO
2. Warrensburg, MO
3. Kirksville, MO
4. Marshall, MO
5. Columbia, MO
6. Rolla, MO
7. Hannibal, MO
8. Bolivar, MO
9. Joplin, MO
10. Fulton, MO

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

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Missouri For 2024

Colleges: Northwest Missouri State University

Colleges: University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg Area Career Center

Colleges: Truman State University, Kirksville Area Technical Center, A T Still University of Health Sciences

Colleges: Missouri Valley College, Saline County Career Center

Colleges: University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia College, Stephens College

Colleges: Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla Technical Institute/Center, Metro Business College-Rolla

Colleges: Hannibal-LaGrange University

Colleges: Southwest Baptist University

Colleges: Missouri Southern State University, Ozark Christian College, Vatterott College-Joplin

Colleges: William Woods University, Westminster College

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

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

And it looks like Maryville placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Missouri are Maryville, Warrensburg, Kirksville, Marshall, Columbia, Rolla, Hannibal, Bolivar, Joplin, and Fulton.

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:

• Safest Places In Missouri
• Best Places To Retire In Missouri
• Whitest Cities In Missouri

19 Best College Towns In Missouri

Rank	City	Population
1	Maryville, MO	10691
2	Warrensburg, MO	19317
3	Kirksville, MO	17533
4	Marshall, MO	13687
5	Columbia, MO	126172
6	Rolla, MO	20025
7	Hannibal, MO	17003
8	Bolivar, MO	10780
9	Joplin, MO	51848
10	Fulton, MO	12648
11	Florissant, MO	52167
12	Moberly, MO	13708
13	St. Louis, MO	298018
14	Springfield, MO	168873
15	Kansas City, MO	505958
16	Sunset Hills, MO	9121
17	Independence, MO	122218
18	Liberty, MO	30299
19	Nevada, MO	8128