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

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

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

1. Easton, PA
2. Millersville, PA
3. West Chester, PA
4. Bethlehem, PA
5. Media, PA
6. Huntingdon, PA
7. Carlisle, PA
8. Greensburg, PA
9. Indiana, PA
10. Bloomsburg, PA

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

Finally, if you live in Washington, PA - it's officially the worst college town in Pennsylvania. Sorry, Washington!

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

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

The 10 Best College Towns In Pennsylvania For 2024

Colleges: Lafayette College

Colleges: Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Colleges: West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Colleges: Northampton County Area Community College, Lehigh University, Moravian College

Colleges: Delaware County Community College, Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Brandywine, Pennsylvania Institute of Technology

Colleges: Juniata College, Du Bois Business College-Huntingdon

Colleges: Dickinson College, Pennsylvania State University-Dickinson Law, McCann School of Business & Technology

Colleges: University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, Seton Hill University, Triangle Tech Inc-Greensburg

Colleges: Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus, Cambria-Rowe Business College-Indiana, Indiana County Technology Center

Colleges: Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

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

To crunch our data on Pennsylvania'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 46 places in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Pennsylvania.

And it looks like Easton placed Summa Cum Laude.

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

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

The best college towns in Pennsylvania are Easton, Millersville, West Chester, Bethlehem, Media, Huntingdon, Carlisle, Greensburg, Indiana, and Bloomsburg.

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 Pennsylvania, starting with the absolute worst, Washington:

1. Washington
2. Chambersburg
3. Scranton
4. Sharon
5. Chester
6. Allentown
7. New Kensington
8. Philadelphia
9. Reading
10. Erie

For more reading, check out:

• Richest Cities In Pennsylvania
• Best Small Towns in Pennsylvania
• Best Suburbs In Pennsylvania

46 Best College Towns In Pennsylvania

Rank	City	Population
1	Easton, PA	28883
2	Millersville, PA	8426
3	West Chester, PA	19016
4	Bethlehem, PA	76555
5	Media, PA	5860
6	Huntingdon, PA	6904
7	Carlisle, PA	20846
8	Greensburg, PA	14876
9	Indiana, PA	14082
10	Bloomsburg, PA	12836
11	California, PA	5328
12	Johnstown, PA	18429
13	Gettysburg, PA	7709
14	Glenside, PA	7726
15	Williamsport, PA	27755
16	Pittsburgh, PA	303843
17	Hazleton, PA	29671
18	Dubois, PA	7509
19	Lancaster, PA	57970
20	Mechanicsburg, PA	9402
21	Schuylkill Haven, PA	5242
22	Edinboro, PA	4958
23	Collegeville, PA	5172
24	Phoenixville, PA	18723
25	Lock Haven, PA	8422
26	Harrisburg, PA	50055
27	Swarthmore, PA	6507
28	Bradford, PA	7847
29	East Stroudsburg, PA	9345
30	Clarion, PA	4205
31	Meadville, PA	12929
32	Altoona, PA	43821
33	Dunmore, PA	14082
34	Beaver Falls, PA	8934
35	Mckeesport, PA	17749
36	Middletown, PA	7245
37	Erie, PA	94826
38	Reading, PA	94601
39	Philadelphia, PA	1593208
40	New Kensington, PA	12163
41	Allentown, PA	125292
42	Chester, PA	33048
43	Sharon, PA	13143
44	Scranton, PA	76119
45	Chambersburg, PA	21917
46	Washington, PA	13358