WalletHub, a company that describes itself as a “one-stop destination for all the tools and information consumers and small business owners need to make better financial decisions and save money,” has released a study ranking the top college towns in America, and Tuscaloosa has laid claim to the title in the Yellowhammer State.
Here’s how WalletHub describes their methodology:
In order to find the college cities and towns in America that are most conducive to intellectual and personal development as well as a healthy billfold, WalletHub’s analysts examined 326 cities of varying sizes across three equally weighted dimensions: 1) Wallet Wellness, 2) Youth-Oriented Environment and 3) Opportunities.
In order to determine our sample, we limited our selection of cities and towns to those with a university or college population of at least 7,500 students…
Next, we compiled 23 relevant metrics… Each metric was given a value between 0 and 100, wherein 100 is the best value for that metric and 0 is the worst. We then calculated the overall score for each city and ranked them using the weighted average across all metrics.
Among the data WalletHub used to compile their rankings were financial related metrics, like the cost of living and cost of tuition; environment related metrics like crime rate, the number of nightlife options and the number of students per 1,000 residents; and opportunity related metrics like earning potential, availability of part-time jobs and level of entrepreneurial activity. (Full methodology can be found here)
Ann Arbor (MI), College Station (TX), Iowa City (IA), Provo (UT) and Gainesville (FL) were the top five college towns overall, but five Alabama cities also made the list.
Tuscaloosa led the way at 40th nationally, followed by Birmingham (95), Huntsville (126), Mobile (222) and Montgomery (260).
Tuscaloosa ranked highest in the “Wallet Wellness” category — 20th nationally — thanks to the city’s low cost of living, high availability of part-time jobs and rental options, and relatively inexpensive college tuition. It also ranked in the top 50 for opportunity and top third overall for its youth-oriented environment.
Birmingham and Mobile also ranked in the top 50 nationally in the “Wallet Wellness” category.
To check out the full 2015 rankings, head over to WalletHub.
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