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

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

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

1. Kearney, NE
2. Bellevue, NE
3. York, NE
4. Seward, NE
5. Crete, NE
6. Omaha, NE
7. Lincoln, NE
8. Fremont, NE
9. Papillion, NE
10. Hastings, NE

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

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Nebraska For 2024

Colleges: University of Nebraska at Kearney

Colleges: Bellevue University, National American University-Bellevue

Colleges: York College

Colleges: Concordia University-Nebraska

Colleges: Doane University-Arts & Sciences

Colleges: Metropolitan Community College Area, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Creighton University

Colleges: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Southeast Community College Area, Nebraska Wesleyan University

Colleges: Midland University, La'James International College

Colleges: Nebraska Christian College of Hope International University

Colleges: Hastings College

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

To crunch our data on Nebraska'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 10 places in Nebraska 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 Nebraska For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Nebraska.

And it looks like Kearney placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Nebraska are Kearney, Bellevue, York, Seward, Crete, Omaha, Lincoln, Fremont, Papillion, and Hastings.

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:

• Most Expensive Places To Live In Nebraska
• Most African American Cities In Nebraska
• Cheapest Places To Live In Nebraska

10 Best College Towns In Nebraska

Rank	City	Population
1	Kearney, NE	33809
2	Bellevue, NE	63336
3	York, NE	8101
4	Seward, NE	7667
5	Crete, NE	7093
6	Omaha, NE	489201
7	Lincoln, NE	290531
8	Fremont, NE	27230
9	Papillion, NE	24016
10	Hastings, NE	25098