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

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

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

1. Morgantown, WV
2. Keyser, WV
3. Huntington, WV
4. Fairmont, WV
5. Wheeling, WV
6. Charleston, WV
7. Parkersburg, WV
8. Bluefield, WV
9. Vienna, WV
10. Elkins, WV

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

Read on to find out more or for more on West Virginia check out:

• Best Places To Live In West Virginia
• Best Counties To Live In West Virginia
• Cheapest Places To Live In West Virginia

The 10 Best College Towns In West Virginia For 2024

Colleges: West Virginia University, West Virginia Junior College-Morgantown, Monongalia County Technical Education Center

Colleges: Potomac State College of West Virginia University, Mineral County Vocational Technical Center

Colleges: Marshall University, Cabell County Career Technology Center, Huntington Junior College

Colleges: Fairmont State University, Opportunities Industrialization Center, Pierpont Community and Technical College

Colleges: West Virginia Northern Community College, Wheeling Jesuit University, Scott College of Cosmetology

Colleges: University of Charleston, Carver Career Center, West Virginia Junior College-Charleston

Colleges: West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Mountain State College, Wood County School of Practical Nursing

Colleges: Bluefield State College

Colleges: Ohio Valley University

Colleges: Davis & Elkins College, Randolph Technical Center

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

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

And it looks like Morgantown placed Summa Cum Laude.

There You Have It -- The Best College Towns In The West Virginia

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

The best college towns in West Virginia are Morgantown, Keyser, Huntington, Fairmont, Wheeling, Charleston, Parkersburg, Bluefield, Vienna, and Elkins.

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:

• Worst Places To Live In West Virginia
• Richest Cities In West Virginia
• Conservative Cities In West Virginia

10 Best College Towns In West Virginia

Rank	City	Population
1	Morgantown, WV	30220
2	Keyser, WV	4879
3	Huntington, WV	46637
4	Fairmont, WV	18402
5	Wheeling, WV	26900
6	Charleston, WV	48415
7	Parkersburg, WV	29685
8	Bluefield, WV	9619
9	Vienna, WV	10642
10	Elkins, WV	6935