The top 10 most affordable college towns in the U.S.—nearly half are in Texas

For the second year in a row, a Texas locale ranks at the most wallet-friendly college town in the U.S., according to WalletHub's latest ranking. But this year, Edinburg — home to the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley — didn't maintain its first-place position.

Instead, Brownsville, Texas, claimed the top spot, up from third place last year. The city is home to a number of colleges, including Texas Southmost College, Our Lady of the Lake University at Rio Grande Valley and University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley's Brownsville campus.

Brownsville is located at the most southern tip of Texas, about four and a half hours south of San Antonio. The median household income is around $47,000 and median gross rent is $872 per month, per U.S. Census data. The town has a population of a little over 190,000, nearly 30% of whom are under the age of 18, according to the latest Census data.

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In order to evaluate the most wallet-friendly college towns in the U.S., WalletHub analyzed 415 cities of various sizes with a college or university population of at least 7,500 students. It then ranked those cities across several metrics, including housing costs, cost of higher education and student loan debt per person.

Here are the 10 most wallet-friendly college town and cities in the U.S., according to WalletHub:

1. Brownsville, Texas — Our Lady of the Lake University, Rio Grande Valley
2. Brookings, South Dakota — South Dakota State University
3. Laredo, Texas — Texas A&M International University
4. Edinburg, Texas — University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley
5. Lawton, Oklahoma — Cameron University
6. Oxford, Ohio — Miami University
7. Nacogdoches, Texas — Stephen F. Austin State University
8. Valdosta, Georgia — Valdosta State University
9. Richmond, Kentucky — Eastern Kentucky University
10. West Lafayette, Indiana — Purdue University

College towns can be good for retirees and families too

You don't necessarily need to be a college-aged student to enjoy living in a college town — it could be a good fit for retirees and families too.

Towns with colleges or universities may offer local residents access to on-campus events such as concerts, art exhibits and lecture series, or the opportunity to audit classes.

"A small town with a local college or two may be less expensive to live in due to the strong tax base of the local schools, and they may have more cultural opportunities for residents," Mark Fabrizi, a secondary education professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, says in WalletHub's report.

Plus, engaging with the local community may help college students expand their worldview and cultivate empathy for others, Fabrizi says.

"Personal interactions among disparate (and sometimes antagonistic) individuals can have a humanizing effect and promote empathy and mutual understanding, and these interactions must be cultivated deliberately," he says in the report.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley's Brownsville campus.

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