Gainesville ranks No. 5 in RentCafe’s Best College Towns for 2026

Pedestrians crossing at SW 13th Street and University Avenue.

File photo by Taryn Ashby

Key Points

Gainesville ranked No. 5 nationally in RentCafe's 2026 Best College Towns, remaining the South's second best behind Clemson.
The University of Florida offers the lowest average tuition in the top 10 at $5,540 along with an 84% graduation rate. Plus, Gainesville has a strong startup ecosystem.

Gainesville earned a top-10 ranking as a college town in the U.S. by RentCafe, a national apartment real estate website.

RentCafe released its 2026 Best College Towns ranking on April 2, and Gainesville finished at No. 5 in the nation—a two-spot drop from the 2025 ranking. While the city slid two spots overall, it remains the South’s second-best-ranked college town behind Clemson, South Carolina.

RentCafe cited Gainesville’s affordable education, urban aesthetic and young population as rationale for the ranking.

“The largest of our top-ranking cities, this Florida gem is home to a highly ranked institution, yet it still offers affordable education with the University of Florida posting the lowest average tuition and fees in our top 10 ($5,540 for in-state students),” the website said. “Furthermore, as a larger city, Gainesville offers an urban feel and hosts a more extensive community, yet still ranks well for livability with a good natural amenity rank and air quality.”

RentCafe said it studied 244 college towns “in the U.S. across key metrics that measure the quality of” affordability, including tuition and fees, cost of living and percentage of students receiving grant or scholarship aid; quality of life (livability), including share of young adults aged 20-29; and education, including retention and graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratio and admission yield.

RentCafe highlighted Gainesville’s high graduation rate of 84%, placing it among the top 20 nationally for college towns.

“It’s also home to many businesses and has a strong startup ecosystem, meaning graduates can launch their careers without leaving town,” the report said.

RentCafe also showed that Gainesville’s share of young adults (37.80%) sits above the national average of 29%.

The other college towns that made the top 10 ranking include:

Bozeman, Montana (No. 1)
Pullman, Washington (No. 2)
Clemson, South Carolina (No. 3)
Laramie, Wyoming (No. 4)
Provo, Utah (No. 6)
Athens, Ohio (No. 7)
Moscow, Idaho (No. 8)
East Lansing, Michigan (No. 9)
Amherst, Massachusetts (No. 10)

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Nick Anschultz

Before joining Mainstreet Daily News to cover K-12 and higher education, Nick spent three and a half years at the Levy Citizen, where he served as the newspaper’s editor/reporter. In that role, Nick covered everything from government and education to sports and local events. He discovered his passion for journalism while attending the University of Florida, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2021. When he is not typing words on his keyboard, you can usually find Anschultz watching sports – especially his Florida Gators – fishing, or spending time with friends and family. Nick is also a Report for America corps member.

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