Best college towns in New York: See the rankings

The town or city surrounding a college can have a major impact on a student's experience, from nightlife and job opportunities to housing costs and transportation options.

Student living expenses can exceed $39,000 per year, making affordability an important factor for many students deciding where to attend school.

"Picking the right college is crucial, but it's also important to make sure that the surrounding college town will be a place where you'll truly love spending your college years," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. "Towns with a low cost of living, plenty of activities and large student populations can make your college experience a lot less stressful and a lot more enjoyable."

To identify the nation's best college towns and cities, WalletHub compared 415 U.S. locations across 31 measures of affordability, social opportunities and academic and economic prospects.

Here's how New York's college towns and cities ranked.

How New York college towns and cities ranked

The quality of college towns and cities across New York varies, according to the WalletHub study.

Ten New York cities and towns appeared in the rankings, but only two placed among the top 100 nationally: Buffalo and Ithaca.

Buffalo ranked No. 65 overall with a score of 50.42. The city ranked No. 120 for wallet friendliness, No. 43 for social environment and No. 312 for academic and economic opportunities.

Ithaca ranked No. 90 overall with a score of 49.58. The Finger Lakes city ranked No. 283 for wallet friendliness, No. 25 for social environment and No. 220 for academic and economic opportunities.

Here's how the other New York cities and towns ranked:

• Stony Brook: No. 118

• Rochester: No. 155

• Troy: No. 180

• Albany: No. 201

• New York City: No. 280

• Syracuse: No. 312

• New Rochelle: No. 373

• Yonkers: No. 400

Yonkers was the lowest-ranked New York location in the study, placing No. 400 out of 415 with an overall score of 38. The Westchester County city ranked No. 357 for wallet friendliness, No. 340 for social environment and No. 178 for academic and economic opportunities.

WalletHub's 10 best college towns and cities

WalletHub's top 10 college towns and cities were:

1. Austin, Texas

2. Ann Arbor, Michigan

3. Charlottesville, Virginia

4. Raleigh, North Carolina

5. Atlanta, Georgia

6. Tampa, Florida

7. San Diego, California

8. Scottsdale, Arizona

9. Orlando, Florida

10. Charleston, South Carolina

WalletHub's 10 worst college towns and cities

The 10 lowest-ranked cities and towns in the study were:

• No. 415: Compton, California

• No. 414: East Los Angeles, California

• No. 413: Carson, California

• No. 412: Norwalk, California

• No. 411: Kendall, Florida

• No. 410: Inglewood, California

• No. 409: Daly City, California

• No. 408: Germantown, Maryland

• No. 407: Palmdale, California

• No. 406: Azusa, California

How WalletHub ranked college towns and cities

To determine the best college towns and cities in the United States, WalletHub compared 415 cities of varying sizes across three categories: wallet friendliness, social environment, and academic and economic opportunities.

The wallet friendliness category included factors such as housing costs, cost of living, availability of rental housing, entertainment costs, higher education costs and student debt.

The social environment category measured factors including student population, nightlife, restaurants and cafes, sports clubs, festivals, attractions, accessibility and crime.

The academic and economic opportunities category evaluated higher education quality, earning potential for graduates, employment opportunities, entrepreneurial activity, brain drain and job growth.

Data for the rankings was collected as of September 2026 from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, WalletHub research and the National Center for Education Statistics.

— Madison Scott is a New York Connect reporter, covering entertainment, breaking and consumer news, and trending topics with a focus on stories that matter to readers across New York state. She also has an interest in how the system helps or doesn't help families with missing loved ones . She can be reached at MDScott@USATodayco.com .

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Best college towns in New York: See the rankings