The Best College Towns In Rhode Island For 2024
By Nick Johnson & Chris Kolmar | 01/18/2024
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 Rhode Island is home to a handful of them.
While we could debate which colleges within Rhode Island are the 'best,' that's not the goal of this post.
Instead, ride along with us as we determine which college towns in Rhode Island 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.
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 Providence, Newport and every other college town - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Providence ranks in terms of the best college town in America.
Even though there are only 2 cities on our list, you need to remember there are another 34 places in Rhode Island that don't even have a college. One might say you gotta be in it in to win it.
Read on to find out more or for more on Rhode Island check out:
Population: 189,715
% Undergrad Pop.: 14.6% (best)
Median Rent: $1,214 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 717.5% (best)
Crime Rank: 2nd best
More on Providence: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Johnson & Wales University-Providence, Rhode Island College, Brown University
Population: 25,087
% Undergrad Pop.: 7.3% (2nd best)
Median Rent: $1,527 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 1004.6% (2nd best)
Crime Rank: best
More on Newport: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Salve Regina University, International Yacht Restoration School
To crunch our data on Rhode Island'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 2 places in Rhode Island 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:
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 Rhode Island For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Rhode Island.
And it looks like Providence placed Summa Cum Laude.
If you're looking for the best college towns in Rhode Island, you came to the right place.
The best college towns in Rhode Island are Providence, and Newport.
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:
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Providence, RI | 189715 |
| 2 | Newport, RI | 25087 |
Best College Towns in Arkansas
Best College Towns in California
Best College Towns in Colorado
Best College Towns in Connecticut
Best College Towns in Illinois
Best College Towns in Kentucky
Best College Towns in Maryland
Best College Towns in Massachusetts
Best College Towns in Michigan
Best College Towns in Minnesota
Best College Towns in Mississippi
Best College Towns in Missouri
Best College Towns in Nebraska
Best College Towns in New Hampshire
Best College Towns in New Jersey
Best College Towns in New Mexico
Best College Towns in New York
Best College Towns in North Carolina
Best College Towns in Oklahoma
Best College Towns in Pennsylvania
Best College Towns in Rhode Island
Best College Towns in South Carolina
Best College Towns in South Dakota
Best College Towns in Tennessee
Best College Towns in Virginia
Best College Towns in Washington
