UNIVERSITY PARK — State College, home to Penn State’s University Park campus, has been ranked second-best among college towns in America by Wallet Hub, an online personal finance information tool for consumers.
The rankings were announced Dec. 19, on Wallet Hub’s website. Financial experts from the University of Missouri, University of Minnesota, East Carolina University, University of Wisconsin and University of Georgia examined 280 cities of various sizes.
The experts equally weighed three categories, including “Wallet Wellness” (housing costs, cost of living, percentage of rental units and tuition fee), “Youth-Oriented Environment” (number of students per capita, student gender balance, city accessibility and crime rate) and “Opportunities” (earning potential for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher, percentage of part-time jobs, unemployment rate, entrepreneurial activity and quality of higher education).
Wallet Hub ranked cities by size (large cities, more than 300,000 people; midsize cities, 100,000 to 300,000 people; and small cities, less than 100,000 people) and in an overall category. State College ranked second in both the overall and small city categories. Oxford, Ohio, came in first place in both categories.