The Best College Towns in California

What makes a good college town? Most would agree it’s a combination of local cost factors, recreation and the social environment, as well as academic and economic opportunities.

Those are among the factors WalletHub considered in a recent analysis of the Best College Towns in America. The researchers only considered college and university towns with at least 7,500 students. 

15 out of the top 100 Best College Towns are in California:

1. Sacramento (#13 nationally)

2. San Diego (#20 nationally)

3. Santa Barbara (#27 nationally)

4. Berkeley (#29 nationally)

5. Pasadena (#37 nationally)

6. Fresno (#41 nationally)

7. Irvine (#45 nationally)

8. Chico (#64 nationally)

9. Costa Mesa (#66 nationally)

10. San Luis Obispo (#69 nationally)

11. Long Beach (#75 nationally)

12. Bakersfield (#77 nationally)

13. Temecula (#83 nationally)

14. Los Angeles (#94 nationally)

15. Davis (#99 nationally)

Santa Barbara had the highest price for a two-bedroom rental among the college towns WalletHub analyzed. Stanford had the highest cost-of-living overall.

Read the analysis here, including full rankings and methodology.

List and data were compiled by WalletHub and do not reflect statistics on all college towns.