No Colorado Mentions on List of America’s 10 Most Affordable College Towns for Homebuyers in 2022

What is it that makes college towns attractive to young residents, long-time residents, and everyone in between? Many offer a simple sense of comfort. These popular places are at the same time casual and engaging. No matter your age, college towns just have a youthful spirit.

And there’s something else: In an era of real estate uncertainty, buying a home in a university town is looking more and more like a solid investment. After all, the customer base runs the gamut from well- heeled students or recent grads looking to stay put, to young families or seniors looking for a vibrant, culture-rich place for their forever home. There will always be strong, steady demand for homes in college towns from both young and old buyers as well as rental opportunities for those interested in becoming landlords.

Now, with classes starting up again, college towns—and their real estate—have shifted back into focus. However, in the face of sky-high home prices, finding an affordable college town to settle into isn’t quite so easy anymore. That’s why the data team at realtor.com scoured home listings from all over the country to find the college towns where buyers can still find reasonably priced homes for sale. They do indeed exist—especially in smaller towns in the Midwest and South where real estate overall is typically less expensive. They may just lack the big-name recognition of much larger, more expensive college towns (sorry, Boulder!)

To come up with their list, analysts at realtor.com identified cities where students accounted for 25% or more of the overall population. Each of these cities had between 15,000 and 200,000 residents. Then they scoured through their listing data in August to find the most affordable college towns. The list is limited to the single-most affordable city per state to achieve geographic diversity, and cities with at least 20 active listings to ensure enough data to determine median listing price.

Here are the top 10:

1. Macomb, IL

Median home price: $59,950

Largest university: Western Illinois University

2. Hays, KS

Median home price: $167,500

Largest university: Fort Hays State University

3. Troy, AL

Median home price: $199,000

Largest university: Troy University

4. Winona, MN

Median home price: $219,250

Largest university: Winona State University

5. Hammond, LA

Median home price: $237,613

Largest university: Southeastern Louisiana University

6. Warrensburg, MO

Median home price: $249,500

Largest university: University of Central Missouri

7. Huntsville, TX

Median home price: $237,613

Largest university: Sam Houston State University

8. Radford, VA

Median home price: $284,500

Largest university: Radford University

9. Menomonie, WI

Median home price: $296,450

Largest university: University of Wisconsin – Stout

10. Clemson, SC

Median home price: $299,990

Largest university: Clemson University