How WalletHub Ranked America's Top College Towns For 2025

A new study has just been released that has ranked the best college towns & cities across America for 2025, five from Connecticut made the rankings with two in the Top 50.

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According to WalletHub.com's Best College Towns in America (2025) Austin, Texas is the best large college town in America for this year, followed by Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Orlando, Florida. In order to determine their rankings WalletHub examined 415 college towns and cities across three key dimensions: Wallet Friendliness, Social Environment, and Academic & Economic Opportunities.

That data was further evaluated using 31 metrics, some of which were: Housings Cists, Average Price of Pizza & Burgers, Share of Rental Units, Cost of Higher Education, Students per capita, Student Gender Balance, Nightlife Options per capita, Presence of NCAA Division 1 Sports Teams, Crime Rate, Job Growth Rate, and Earning Potential for Grads. One city in Connecticut made the Top 10 in mid-sized cities - New Haven at #9.

Photo by Large Dave

Yale is the premiere destination for almost any potential college student in America, and New Haven has reaped the benefits from having some of the most brilliant minds on the planet. Storrs just missed the Top 10 in the Small City category being ranked as the 11th best small college city for 2025. Hartford ranked at #200, Bridgeport at #302, and Stamford at #314.

New Haven overall ranked at #19 in WalletHub's study, shoulder to shoulder with Seattle, Pittsburgh, Berkley, and Sacramento, but the cost of a higher education in New Haven was ranked among the most expensive in the US for 2025.

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The Grotto Restaurant was a simple Italian food institution on Waterbury's Watertown Avenue for most of my life until it permanently closed 2 years ago in the Summer of 2023. I had a package of frozen ravioli from the Grotto in my freezer for the past two years, it's finally time to say goodbye to the last piece of pasta I've held on to for so long. Join me.

Gallery Credit: Photos by Large Dave

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You’ll get the history, the legends, the frustrating investigations, and the eerie encounters. This isn’t just a ghost story. It’s about land ownership, mysterious incidents, government secrecy, and a community reluctant to talk. It’s curiosity pushing against walls of silence. So, buckle up — Dudleytown’s story is far stranger than you might expect.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

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Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

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