CityFunIndex

Leaderboard

Best cities for higher education

Every city in the CityFunIndex, ranked by its Higher Education score. Density of college and university students — the engine behind a college town.

Cities ranked
134
Top score
93
Average
49

Pillar scores are national percentile ranks on a saturation curve, so the leader of every category lands near the same ceiling — the ranks beneath are still distinct. See how scoring works →

Fargo (93) leads, ahead of Providence (92) and Hartford (92). Charleston anchors the bottom at 0 — a 93-point gap.

Regional read The top 10 spans 9 different states — no single state dominates this board.

All 134 cities, coloured by higher education score band. The top-ranked cities draw larger.

  • Quiet
  • Some Fun
  • Fun
  • Very Fun
  • Exceptional

Score spread across all 134 cities

  • Quiet 40
  • Some Fun 26
  • Fun 27
  • Very Fun 21
  • Exceptional 20
  1. 1st 93 Fargo, ND Fun Score 48
  2. T-2nd 92 Providence, RI Fun Score 78
  3. T-2nd 92 Hartford, CT Fun Score 64
  4. T-2nd 92 Birmingham, AL Fun Score 58

Ranked 5–134

  1. T#5 91 Bridgeport, CT Fun Score 41
  2. T#5 91 Jackson, MS Fun Score 25
  3. T#5 91 Burlington, VT Fun Score 73
  4. T#8 90 Boulder, CO Fun Score 77
  5. T#8 90 Madison, WI Fun Score 97
  6. T#8 90 Des Moines, IA Fun Score 74
  7. T#11 89 Baton Rouge, LA Fun Score 28
  8. T#11 89 Lubbock, TX Fun Score 32
  9. T#13 88 Pittsburgh, PA Fun Score 94
  10. T#13 88 Lincoln, NE Fun Score 74
  11. T#13 88 Tucson, AZ Fun Score 47
  12. T#16 87 Boston, MA Fun Score 98
  13. T#16 87 Norfolk, VA Fun Score 56
  14. T#18 86 Greensboro, NC Fun Score 59
  15. T#18 86 Savannah, GA Fun Score 75
  16. #20 85 Lexington, KY Fun Score 69
  17. T#21 84 Cincinnati, OH Fun Score 92
  18. T#21 84 Minneapolis, MN Fun Score 84
  19. T#23 83 Irvine, CA Fun Score 57
  20. T#23 83 Riverside, CA Fun Score 21
  21. #25 82 Atlanta, GA Fun Score 88
  22. #26 81 Raleigh, NC Fun Score 64
  23. T#27 80 Winston-Salem, NC Fun Score 32
  24. T#27 80 Charleston, SC Fun Score 87
  25. #29 79 Milwaukee, WI Fun Score 70
  26. #30 78 Laredo, TX Fun Score 10
  27. T#31 77 Richmond, VA Fun Score 91
  28. T#31 77 Montgomery, AL Fun Score 41
  29. #33 76 Tampa, FL Fun Score 70
  30. #34 75 Columbus, OH Fun Score 60
  31. T#35 74 Arlington, TX Fun Score 17
  32. T#35 74 Buffalo, NY Fun Score 77
  33. #37 73 Santa Ana, CA Fun Score 32
  34. #38 72 Glendale, AZ Fun Score 10
  35. T#39 71 Boise, ID Fun Score 80
  36. T#39 71 San Antonio, TX Fun Score 22
  37. #41 70 San Diego, CA Fun Score 74
  38. #42 69 Saint Paul, MN Fun Score 64
  39. T#43 68 El Paso, TX Fun Score 21
  40. T#43 68 Durham, NC Fun Score 64
  41. #45 67 Newark, NJ Fun Score 36
  42. #46 66 Stockton, CA Fun Score 2
  43. T#47 65 Fort Wayne, IN Fun Score 49
  44. T#47 65 Austin, TX Fun Score 67
  45. #49 64 Corpus Christi, TX Fun Score 20
  46. #50 63 Phoenix, AZ Fun Score 40
  47. T#51 62 Tulsa, OK Fun Score 51
  48. T#51 62 Santa Barbara, CA Fun Score 83
  49. #53 61 Omaha, NE Fun Score 68
  50. #54 60 Toledo, OH Fun Score 45
  51. T#55 59 Seattle, WA Fun Score 100
  52. T#55 59 Wichita, KS Fun Score 15
  53. #57 58 Houston, TX Fun Score 41
  54. #58 57 Fresno, CA Fun Score 23
  55. T#59 56 Reno, NV Fun Score 66
  56. T#59 56 Anaheim, CA Fun Score 41
  57. #61 55 Bakersfield, CA Fun Score 0
  58. #62 54 Philadelphia, PA Fun Score 45
  59. T#63 53 Charlotte, NC Fun Score 54
  60. T#63 53 Garland, TX Fun Score 0
  61. #65 52 Long Beach, CA Fun Score 31
  62. #66 51 Fort Worth, TX Fun Score 18
  63. T#67 50 Billings, MT Placeholder
  64. T#67 50 Louisville, KY Fun Score 55
  65. #69 49 Nashville, TN Fun Score 60
  66. #70 48 Anchorage, AK Fun Score 36
  67. T#71 47 Dallas, TX Fun Score 38
  68. T#71 47 Colorado Springs, CO Fun Score 51
  69. #73 46 Chicago, IL Fun Score 56
  70. #74 45 Cleveland, OH Fun Score 77
  71. T#75 44 Indianapolis, IN Fun Score 48
  72. T#75 44 Washington, DC Fun Score 93
  73. #77 43 North Las Vegas, NV Fun Score 4
  74. #78 42 Los Angeles, CA Fun Score 38
  75. T#79 41 Aurora, CO Fun Score 37
  76. T#79 41 Memphis, TN Fun Score 14
  77. #81 40 Oklahoma City, OK Fun Score 25
  78. #82 39 Irving, TX Fun Score 20
  79. T#83 38 Spokane, WA Fun Score 63
  80. T#83 38 Manchester, NH Fun Score 55
  81. #85 37 Kansas City, MO Fun Score 65
  82. #86 36 Detroit, MI Fun Score 45
  83. T#87 35 San Jose, CA Fun Score 62
  84. T#87 35 Baltimore, MD Fun Score 76
  85. #89 34 New Orleans, LA Fun Score 64
  86. #90 33 Albuquerque, NM Fun Score 41
  87. T#91 32 Sacramento, CA Fun Score 54
  88. T#91 32 Mesa, AZ Fun Score 36
  89. #93 31 Jacksonville, FL Fun Score 19
  90. #94 30 Little Rock, AR Fun Score 47
  91. T#95 29 St. Louis, MO Fun Score 65
  92. T#95 29 Virginia Beach, VA Fun Score 49
  93. #97 28 Plano, TX Fun Score 40
  94. #98 27 Chandler, AZ Fun Score 41
  95. T#99 26 Santa Fe, NM Fun Score 63
  96. T#99 26 Sioux Falls, SD Fun Score 40
  97. #101 25 Asheville, NC Fun Score 85
  98. #102 24 Aspen, CO Fun Score 67
  99. T#103 23 Las Vegas, NV Fun Score 35
  100. T#103 23 Santa Clarita, CA Fun Score 30
  101. #105 22 Bismarck, ND Fun Score 26
  102. #106 21 New York, NY Fun Score 54
  103. T#107 20 Orlando, FL Fun Score 65
  104. T#107 20 Napa, CA Fun Score 52
  105. #109 19 Gilbert, AZ Fun Score 31
  106. #110 18 Chesapeake, VA Fun Score 44
  107. T#111 17 Denver, CO Fun Score 82
  108. T#111 17 Honolulu, HI Fun Score 86
  109. #113 16 Hialeah, FL Fun Score 18
  110. #114 15 Portland, OR Fun Score 81
  111. T#115 14 Park City, UT Fun Score 74
  112. T#115 14 Jersey City, NJ Fun Score 43
  113. #117 13 Miami, FL Fun Score 55
  114. #118 12 Bend, OR Fun Score 80
  115. T#119 11 St. Petersburg, FL Fun Score 46
  116. T#119 11 Oakland, CA Fun Score 61
  117. #121 10 San Francisco, CA Fun Score 96
  118. #122 9 Scottsdale, AZ Fun Score 46
  119. T#123 8 Portland, ME Fun Score 100
  120. T#123 8 Henderson, NV Fun Score 13
  121. #125 7 Fremont, CA Fun Score 54
  122. #126 6 Gatlinburg, TN Fun Score 71
  123. T#127 5 Key West, FL Fun Score 71
  124. T#127 5 Wilmington, DE Fun Score 50
  125. #129 4 Hilton Head Island, SC Fun Score 58
  126. #130 3 Jackson, WY Fun Score 87
  127. T#131 2 Sedona, AZ Fun Score 55
  128. T#131 2 Stowe, VT Fun Score 44
  129. #133 1 Telluride, CO Fun Score 77
  130. #134 0 Charleston, WV Fun Score 61

1 of 134 cities has no higher education measurement, so it sits at the median (50) as a placeholder — flagged above and not a measured rank. The composite Fun Score renormalises around the gap, so it is unaffected.

Higher Education is measured from NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) full-time-equivalent enrollment and US Census ACS age cohort data.