Best and worst college towns: Where does Morgantown rank?

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) – The school itself isn’t the only thing to consider when choosing a college.

For prospective students who value the city where they will be living as much as the college itself, WalletHub recently released a list of the best and worst college cities in the U.S., based on everything from cost of living and crime rate to social environment.

Two West Virginia cities were included in the ranking. Morgantown, home of West Virginia University, ranked in the top 75 in the nation at 74th overall, and for small cities, it ranked at 28th. It scored particularly well for social environment (13th) and wallet friendliness (49th), but it ranked very low for academic & economic opportunity (381st out of 415).

Huntington, home of Marshall University, ranked at 335th overall and 148th for small cities. Although Huntington barely beat Morgantown for academic & economic opportunity (377th), it ranked much lower for social environment (259th) and wallet friendliness (94th).

The top-ranked college cities were:

1. Austin, TX
2. Ann Arbor, MI
3. Orlando, FL
4. Tampa, FL
5. Raleigh, NC
6. Tempe, AZ
7. Atlanta, GA
8. Reno, NV
9. Charlottesville, VA
10. Gainesville, FL

Just 75 miles from Morgantown, Pittsburgh, PA ranked at 11th overall and ranked 3rd in the country for social environment.

The bottom five cities in the country were all in California, primarily because of their high cost of living.