Trio of Midwestern College Towns Rank Among Nation's Best

Champaign and Urbana cracked the top 10 in the rankings

The Midwest has plenty of incredible college towns, and according to a new ranking, three of them are among the best in the entire country.

The ranking, compiled by Livability.com, takes into account a town’s average age, the number of jobs in the education sector, and the ratio of median salary to the nation for education jobs.

Illinois had one school make the cut, as the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign checked in at number seven. Its proximity to several major cities, including Chicago and St. Louis, and its opportunities for internships with a dozen Fortune 500 companies, were both listed as factors in its high ranking.

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Two other Midwestern towns made the cut. Ames, Iowa, the home of Iowa State University, checked in at number two on the list, and its wide variety of outdoor amenities and cultural activities gave it a leg up on the competition.

Lawrence, Kansas, the home of the University of Kansas, was the number four college town in America, thanks to its strong history of athletic success and its proximity to manufacturing jobs and Kansas City.

Ithaca, New York, the home of Cornell University, Provo, Utah, and  Corvallis, Oregon rounded out the top five on the list.

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