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If your child isn’t going to spend all four years of college in a dorm — or you’re looking for a new job at a university — it’s important to consider the cost of living, because in some college towns, housing prices are astronomical.
That's why real estate company Redfin set out to find the most expensive college towns. First, it drew on a definition of a college town as a city where at least 10% of the population are students at a four-year, accredited university, and which is located at least 30 miles from a metro area with more than 1 million people. To compile this ranking, Redfin looked at 240 qualifying college towns and included the top 50 by student population that recorded at least 100 home sales between January and July 2025. Median home-sale prices were calculated as a weighted average over that period.
“Home prices — and, by extension, rent — in some college towns have climbed so high they’re increasingly out of reach for students, faculty, and staff,” Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said. “Housing costs may push faculty and staff to live far from campus, and it also deters some professors from teaching there altogether.”
Continue reading to see which college towns have the priciest homes in the U.S., according to Redfin.
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Pullman, Washington, home to Washington State University, has a median home price of $452,137, a modest 0.2% increase compared to last year.
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Manchester, New Hampshire, where both the University of New Hampshire’s Manchester campus and Southern New Hampshire University are located, has a median home price of $456,096, up 6.9% year over year.
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Ann Arbor, Michigan, home to the University of Michigan, has a median home price of $464,495, a 3.4% decline from last year.
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Provo, Utah, home to Brigham Young University, has a median home price of $474,745, a 7.9% increase compared to last year.
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Eugene, Oregon, home to the University of Oregon, has a median home price of $501,571, a 1.7% rise over the past year.
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Orem, Utah, home to Utah Valley University, has a median home price of $517,224, a 6.8% increase year over year.
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Corvallis, Oregon, home to Oregon State University, has a median home price of $568,507, 2.1% higher than the year before.
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Flagstaff, Arizona, home to Northern Arizona University, has a median home price of $695,902, up 6.3% from last year.
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Boca Raton, Florida, home to Florida Atlantic University, has a median home price of $822,701, a 9.3% increase over the past year.
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Santa Barbara, California, home to the University of California, Santa Barbara, has a median home price of $1,964,170, a 4% rise compared to last year.
