Campus Connection

UWL gets credit for La Crosse getting high marks as a college town

La Crosse is among the top 20 college towns in the country. Pointing to UW-La Crosse, The American Institute for Economic Research puts La Crosse as the No. 19 best college town in America. It’s the only city in Wisconsin to make the ranking. Boulder, Colorado, is the top-ranked college town in the U.S., according to the institute. Regionally, Rochester, Minnesota, makes the list at No. 16 for being home to the University of Minnesota Rochester campus. The ranking’s description of La Crosse: Located along the Mississippi River, La Crosse has a beautiful historic center. Compared with Madison, home to University of Wisconsin’s flagship campus, La Crosse offers an advantage in its social scene. The town has an array of pubs, eateries, and entertainment venues. It is also home to the World’s Largest Six-Pack, a landmark structure. La Crosse’s second most interesting feature is its extremely low unemployment rate at 1.5 percent. The American Institute for Economic Research compiled its list using nine economic, demographic, and quality-of-life factors. It defines college towns as having fewer than 250,000 residents. Aside from the overall ranking, the institute included cities' individual scores for noteworthy metrics including rent, earnings, and bars and restaurants. It chose the one metric where the city scored the highest out of the nine. La Crosse was listed No. 1 in youth unemployment, No. 3 in labor force and No. 9 in rent. American Institute for Economic Research, founded in 1933, educates Americans on the value of personal freedom, free enterprise, property rights, limited government and sound money. Get more details about the ranking at: American Institute for Economic Research. College Towns Ranking: 1 Boulder, Colorado 2 Champaign-Urbana, Illinois 3 Flagstaff, Arizona 4 Ithaca, New York 5 Iowa City, Iowa 6 Bloomington, Indiana 7 College Station, Texas 8 Manhattan, Kansas 9 Columbia, Missouri 10 Bloomington, Illinois 11 Charlottesville, Virginia 12 Lafayette, Indiana 13 Fargo, North Dakota 14 Athens, Georgia 15 State College, Pennsylvania 16 Rochester, Minnesota 17 Blacksburg, Virginia 18 Jacksonville, North Carolina 19 La Crosse, Wisconsin 20 Bellingham, Washington Ranking detail: No. 19 La Crosse, Wis. Population: 136,824 Students: 16,081 Demographics: No. 19 College educated No. 20 Diversity Quality of life: No. 12 City Access No. 12 Arts and Entertainment No. 16 Bars and Restaurants Economics: No. 1 Youth Unemployment No. 3 Labor Force No. 17 Innovation No. 9 Rent