Michigan Location Crowned No. 1 Best Small College Town in U.S.

Picking a college isn’t just about the classes or campus life—it’s also about the city you’ll call home for the next several years. From affordable living to social opportunities, your college town can shape both your academic and personal experience.

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A new report by the personal-finance website Wallethub compared more than 400 U.S. cities based on 31 key indicators across three dimensions: wallet friendliness, social environment, and academic/economic opportunities. They analyzed things like cost of living, crime rate, to the quality of higher education in the city

One Michigan college came out on top.

According to Wallethub, Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, is the No. 2 overall college town in the nation, and the No. 1 best small college town. 

With an overall score of 62.62, Ann Arbor received a 204 in wallet friendliness, 29 in social environment, and 22 in academic and economic opportunities.

READ MORE: This is Michigan's Hardest School to Get Into

Wallethub's findings on Ann Arbor:

• Average cost of a year with in-state tuition plus room and board is $33,556 compared to the nearly $90,000 cost in the most expensive cities.
• 361 out of every 1,000 residents is a student, which allows young people to more easily build friendships.
• Ann Arbor has access to NCAA Division 1 basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, and football, plus the the third lowest average pizza price in the U.S.

Wondering how other Michigan schools faired in the overall ranking?

• East Lansing - No. 40
• Grand Rapids - No. 96
• Kalamazoo - No. 162
• Ypsilanti - No. 182
• Lansing - No. 190