{"id":82215,"date":"2025-09-17T05:00:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/news\/?p=82215"},"modified":"2025-09-24T09:41:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T16:41:24","slug":"most-expensive-housing-college-towns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/news\/most-expensive-housing-college-towns\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Expensive College Towns in the Nation Have One Thing in Common: They\u2019re on the Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

The median home-sale price in Santa Barbara, the most expensive college town in the U.S., is almost $2 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

When it comes to housing, the most expensive college town in the U.S. is Santa Barbara, CA, home to a University of California campus with about 26,000 students. Santa Barbara\u2019s median home-sale price is nearly $2 million, more than double the next-most expensive college town.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Second-place Boca Raton, FL, home to Florida Atlantic University and its 30,000-plus students, has a median home-sale price of more than $820,000. The two most expensive college towns in the country have one big thing in common: they\u2019re on the beach. That\u2019s enough to push real estate prices into the stratosphere. Homebuying and rental demand from faculty and staff exacerbates already high prices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next comes Flagstaff, AZ, where Northern Arizona University is located. It has a median home-sale price of just under $700,000, with the area\u2019s outdoor lifestyle and proximity to the Grand Canyon pushing up prices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two towns in Oregon\u2013Corvallis and Eugene , home to the state\u2019s two biggest universities\u2013are also among the top 10 most expensive college towns. So are two towns in Utah, Orem and Provo.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Most Expensive College Towns, By Median Home-Sale Price (2025)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Town<\/b><\/td>\nNotable college<\/b><\/td>\nMedian home-sale price<\/b><\/td>\nMedian home-sale price, YoY growth<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Santa Barbara, CA<\/span><\/td>\nUniversity of California, Santa Barbara<\/span><\/td>\n$1,964,170<\/span><\/td>\n4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boca Raton, FL<\/span><\/td>\nFlorida Atlantic University<\/span><\/td>\n$822,701<\/span><\/td>\n9.3%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Flagstaff, AZ<\/span><\/td>\nNorthern Arizona University<\/span><\/td>\n$695,902<\/span><\/td>\n6.3%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Corvallis, OR<\/span><\/td>\nOregon State University<\/span><\/td>\n$568,507<\/span><\/td>\n2.1%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Orem, UT<\/span><\/td>\nUtah Valley University<\/span><\/td>\n$517,224<\/span><\/td>\n6.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eugene, OR<\/span><\/td>\nUniversity of Oregon<\/span><\/td>\n$501,571<\/span><\/td>\n1.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Provo, UT<\/span><\/td>\nBrigham Young University<\/span><\/td>\n$474,745<\/span><\/td>\n7.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ann Arbor, MI<\/span><\/td>\nUniversity of Michigan<\/span><\/td>\n$464,495<\/span><\/td>\n-3.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Manchester, NH<\/span><\/td>\nUniversity of New Hampshire, Manchester and Southern New Hampshire University<\/span><\/td>\n$456,096<\/span><\/td>\n6.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pullman, WA<\/span><\/td>\nWashington State University<\/span><\/td>\n$452,137<\/span><\/td>\n0.2%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

This is from a <\/span>Redfin analysis of college towns in the U.S<\/span><\/a>. To be considered a college town, a city\u2019s population must be at least 10% students at a four-year, accredited university, and it must be at least 30 miles away from a metro area with a population of more than 1 million people. We identified 240 college towns; the top 50 by student population with at least 100 home sales in the relevant period are included in this ranking. Median home-sale prices in this report are a weighted average from January to July.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHome prices\u2013and, by extension, rent\u2013in some college towns have climbed so high they\u2019re increasingly out of reach for students, faculty and staff,\u201d said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather<\/a>. \u201cIn a place like Santa Barbara or Flagstaff, high housing costs may push faculty and staff to live far from campus, and it also deters some professors from teaching there altogether. For students, high costs may mean they have to take on more debt and\/or live far from campus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fairweather notes that there are ways to improve affordability for students, faculty and staff. \u201cThe best ways to make housing more affordable is to build more homes, update zoning laws to allow more multi-family housing, and invest more in student housing,\u201d she said. \u201cLocal homeowners may oppose building a lot of new housing and updated zoning laws because they believe it will stagnate their home\u2019s value. But locals who don\u2019t own a home would likely welcome changes that make housing more affordable for them, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Most students don\u2019t buy homes where they attend college, but expensive home-sale prices push up rent because landlords pass the cost along to their tenants. Additionally, in some places it\u2019s common practice for parents to buy homes where their child attends college.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of investors in Utah are parents buying homes for their kids in college at BYU or the University of Utah,\u201d said Sam Brinton<\/a>, a Redfin Premier agent in Salt Lake City, UT. \u201cIn Provo, many of the purchases within a mile of BYU are parents buying for their kids, and potentially for their kid\u2019s friends, who will pay rent. They figure, why pay rent for four years when they can own a home and hopefully sell it later at a higher price?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For More Affordable Housing in College Towns, Look to the Rust Belt<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are three major college towns where the median home-sale price is about $200,000 or under, less than half the national median\u2013and all three of them are in the Rust Belt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The least expensive college town in the U.S. is Dayton, OH, home to two major schools: Wright State University and the University of Dayton, home to a combined ~22,000 students. Dayton\u2019s median home-sale price is roughly $137,000, making it not only the cheapest college town to buy a home, but one of the cheapest places to buy a home in the U.S., period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next comes Syracuse, NY, home to Syracuse University and 20,000-plus students, with a median sale price of about $170,000. It\u2019s followed by Mount Pleasant, MI, home to Central Michigan University, where the median sale price comes in at just over $200,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Least Expensive College Towns, By Median Home-Sale Price (2025)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Town<\/b><\/td>\nNotable college<\/b><\/td>\nMedian home-sale price<\/b><\/td>\nMedian home-sale price, YoY change<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dayton, OH<\/span><\/td>\nWright State University and<\/span><\/p>\n

University of Dayton<\/span><\/td>\n

$137,261<\/span><\/td>\n7.3%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Syracuse, NY<\/span><\/td>\nSyracuse University<\/span><\/td>\n$169,779<\/span><\/td>\n12.1%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mount Pleasant, MI<\/span><\/td>\nCentral Michigan University<\/span><\/td>\n$201,768<\/span><\/td>\n7.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Springfield, MO<\/span><\/td>\nMissouri State University<\/span><\/td>\n$208,594<\/span><\/td>\n4.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Champaign-Urbana, IL<\/span><\/td>\nUniversity of Illinois<\/span><\/td>\n$237,825<\/span><\/td>\n10.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lubbock, TX<\/span><\/td>\nTexas Tech University\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n$240,210<\/span><\/td>\n3.1%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Greenville, NC<\/span><\/td>\nEast Carolina University<\/span><\/td>\n$247,266<\/span><\/td>\n-1.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stillwater, OK<\/span><\/td>\nOklahoma State University<\/span><\/td>\n$253,086<\/span><\/td>\n8.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Morgantown, WV<\/span><\/td>\nWest Virginia University<\/span><\/td>\n$269,154<\/span><\/td>\n2.1%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tuscaloosa, AL<\/span><\/td>\nUniversity of Alabama<\/span><\/td>\n$271,901<\/span><\/td>\n6.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

College faculty, staff, and students (and their parents) don\u2019t have to break the bank to afford housing. Many college towns have median home-sale prices well under the national average.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more college town housing-market data, please see our <\/span>roundup of stats<\/span><\/a> for the 50 biggest U.S. academic hubs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The median home-sale price in Santa Barbara, the most expensive college town in the U.S., is almost $2 million.\u00a0 When it comes to housing, the most expensive college town in the U.S. is Santa Barbara, CA, home to a University of California campus with about 26,000 students. Santa Barbara\u2019s median home-sale price is nearly $2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13153,"featured_media":82216,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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