Laramie Ranks Highly in another Best College Towns List

Just a couple of weeks after being ranked No. 1 in a website’s list of the best small college towns in America, Laramie and the University of Wyoming appear near the top of another list that considers larger cities as well.

Smart Asset, a website that says it provides information to help consumers make financial decisions, ranks Laramie No. 12 on its list of “the Best College Towns to Live in.”

Laramie is listed ahead of Iowa City, Iowa; Fort Collins, Colo.; Santa Barbara, Calif.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Missoula, Mont.; and 90 other communities. Topping the list are Princeton, N.J.; Kearney, Neb.; and Boulder, Colo.

Smart Asset considered 108 college towns with populations of at least 25,000, in which the total enrollment of all local colleges and universities is greater than 20 percent of the total population. The rankings are based on violent crime rates, property crime rates, unemployment rates, median discretionary income, and the number of dining and entertainment establishments per 10,000 residents.

The full Smart Asset list, along with an explanation of its methodology, may be found at https://smartasset.com/mortgage/best-college-towns-2015.

Late last month, a website called College Values Online ranked Laramie No. 1 on its list of the “50 Best Small College Towns in America,” after looking at factors including cost of living, unemployment rate, crime rate and “wow” factors.

Last year, WalletHub.com ranked Laramie No. 6 on its list of “2014’s Best College Cities & Towns in America,” after considering 23 metrics including quality of higher education, crime rates and cost of living.