9 Best Small College Towns in America 2024

1. Ames, Iowa

The Iowa State institution, which is the biggest institution in the state of Iowa, is located in Ames, which is located in Story County. The student body of the university accounts for over half of the city's population.

2. Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington is renowned as a Tree City owing to the existence of well-maintained urban forestry throughout the area. This is the reason why Bloomington is known as the "Gateway to Scenic Southern Indiana."

3. Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is an urban city in Washtenaw County. It is best known as the home of the University of Michigan (UMich). It's 28.70 square miles big, and 119,980 people live there.

4. Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa City, which is one of the main cities in Iowa State and is located in Johnson County, has been acknowledged by prominent American periodicals as an appropriate place for doing business.

5. Champaign, Illinois

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), which has more than 51,000 students, is one of the biggest colleges in the United States and is based in Champaign.

6. Columbia, Missouri

Columbia is considered to be the "cradle" of higher education due to the fact that it is the location of a number of prestigious educational institutions, including the University of Missouri, Columbia College, and Stephens College.

7. Lawrence, Kansas

Lawrence is the sixth-largest city in Kansas. It was named after the famous rebel Amos Adams Lawrence, and it is home to colleges and universities like the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University.

8. Kalamazoo, Michigan

Born in southeast Michigan, Kalamazoo is a college town where colleges and universities like Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley Community College call home.

9. Muncie, Indiana

There is a university called Ball State University (BSU) in Muncie City. The people who live there are often studied by sociologists across the country. It has a muggy climate with warm months.