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

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

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

1. Poughkeepsie, NY
2. Brockport, NY
3. New Paltz, NY
4. Oneonta, NY
5. Stony Brook, NY
6. Ithaca, NY
7. Potsdam, NY
8. Fredonia, NY
9. Bronxville, NY
10. Albany, NY

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

Finally, if you live in Lawrence, NY - it's officially the worst college town in New York. Sorry, Lawrence!

Read on to find out more or for more on New York check out:

• Best Places To Live In New York
• Best Counties To Live In New York
• Cheapest Places To Live In New York

The 10 Best College Towns In New York For 2024

Colleges: Dutchess Community College, Marist College, Vassar College

Colleges: SUNY College at Brockport

Colleges: State University of New York at New Paltz

Colleges: SUNY Oneonta, Hartwick College, Otsego Area BOCES-Practical Nursing Program

Colleges: Stony Brook University

Colleges: Cornell University, Ithaca College, Finger Lakes School of Massage

Colleges: SUNY College at Potsdam, Clarkson University

Colleges: SUNY at Fredonia

Colleges: Sarah Lawrence College, Concordia College-New York

Colleges: SUNY at Albany, The College of Saint Rose, Mildred Elley School-Albany Campus

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

To crunch our data on New York'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 43 places in New York 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 New York For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in New York.

And it looks like Poughkeepsie placed Summa Cum Laude.

There You Have It -- The Best College Towns In The New York

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

The best college towns in New York are Poughkeepsie, Brockport, New Paltz, Oneonta, Stony Brook, Ithaca, Potsdam, Fredonia, Bronxville, and Albany.

These places all have great college sports programs, tons of stuff to do, and are great places to raise a family.

If you're curious, these are the worst college towns in New York, starting with the absolute worst, Lawrence:

1. Lawrence
2. Peekskill
3. Monsey
4. Mount Kisco
5. Glen Cove
6. Dix Hills
7. Utica
8. Jamestown
9. Rochester
10. Dobbs Ferry

For more reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In New York
• New York Cities With The Largest Hispanic Population
• Worst Places To Live In New York State

43 Best College Towns In New York

Rank	City	Population
1	Poughkeepsie, NY	31717
2	Brockport, NY	7192
3	New Paltz, NY	7732
4	Oneonta, NY	14097
5	Stony Brook, NY	12501
6	Ithaca, NY	31359
7	Potsdam, NY	8570
8	Fredonia, NY	9710
9	Bronxville, NY	6570
10	Albany, NY	99692
11	Farmingdale, NY	8428
12	New Rochelle, NY	80828
13	Plattsburgh, NY	19907
14	Rockville Centre, NY	25784
15	Canton, NY	7245
16	Geneseo, NY	7713
17	Hamburg, NY	9749
18	Troy, NY	51268
19	Cortland, NY	17574
20	Saratoga Springs, NY	28505
21	Buffalo, NY	276688
22	Syracuse, NY	146134
23	Hempstead, NY	58557
24	Bethpage, NY	17281
25	Monroe, NY	9420
26	Newburgh, NY	28751
27	Oswego, NY	17092
28	Geneva, NY	12670
29	White Plains, NY	59421
30	Nyack, NY	7057
31	New York, NY	8622467
32	Elmira, NY	26494
33	Schenectady, NY	68476
34	Dobbs Ferry, NY	11431
35	Rochester, NY	210992
36	Jamestown, NY	28679
37	Utica, NY	64728
38	Dix Hills, NY	24652
39	Glen Cove, NY	28132
40	Mount Kisco, NY	10835
41	Monsey, NY	28287
42	Peekskill, NY	25401
43	Lawrence, NY	6773