The Most Expensive College Towns in the Nation Have One Thing in Common: They’re on the Beach

Redfin reports the median home-sale price in Santa Barbara, the most expensive college town in the U.S., is almost $2 million

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Santa Barbara, CA, is the most expensive college town in the U.S., according to a new report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket. Santa Barbara’s median home-sale price is nearly $2 million, more than double the next-most expensive college town.

Redfin released an additional report on college towns today, the second being a roundup of key housing-market data for the 50 biggest college towns in the U.S.

Among the priciest college towns, second-place Boca Raton, FL, home to Florida Atlantic University and its 30,000-plus students, has a median home-sale price of more than $820,000. The two most expensive college towns in the country have one big thing in common: they’re on the beach. That’s enough to push real estate prices into the stratosphere. Homebuying and rental demand from faculty and staff exacerbates already high prices.

Next comes Flagstaff, AZ, where Northern Arizona University is located. It has a median home-sale price of just under $700,000, with the area’s outdoor lifestyle and proximity to the Grand Canyon pushing up prices.

Two towns in Oregon—Corvallis and Eugene, home to the state’s two biggest universities—are also among the top 10 most expensive college towns. So are two towns in Utah, Orem and Provo.

Most Expensive College Towns, By Median Home-Sale Price (2025)
Town	Notable college	Median home-sale price	Median home-sale price, YoY growth
Santa Barbara, CA	University of California, Santa Barbara	$1,964,170	4%
Boca Raton, FL	Florida Atlantic University	$822,701	9.3%
Flagstaff, AZ	Northern Arizona University	$695,902	6.3%
Corvallis, OR	Oregon State University	$568,507	2.1%
Orem, UT	Utah Valley University	$517,224	6.8%
Eugene, OR	University of Oregon	$501,571	1.7%
Provo, UT	Brigham Young University	$474,745	7.9%
Ann Arbor, MI	University of Michigan	$464,495	-3.4%
Manchester, NH	University of New Hampshire, Manchester and Southern New Hampshire University	$456,096	6.9%
Pullman, WA	Washington State University	$452,137	0.2%

“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,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “In a place like Santa Barbara or Flagstaff, high housing costs may push faculty and staff to live far from campus, and it also deters some professors from teaching there altogether. For students, high costs may mean they have to take on more debt and/or live far from campus.”

Fairweather notes that there are ways to improve affordability for students, faculty and staff. “The best ways to make housing more affordable is to build more homes, update zoning laws to allow more multi-family housing, and invest more in student housing,” she said. “Local homeowners may oppose building a lot of new housing and updated zoning laws because they believe it will stagnate their home’s value. But locals who don’t own a home would likely welcome changes that make housing more affordable for them, too.”

Most students don’t buy homes where they attend college, but expensive home-sale prices push up rent because landlords pass the cost along to their tenants. Additionally, in some places it’s common practice for parents to buy homes where their child attends college.

“A lot of investors in Utah are parents buying homes for their kids in college at BYU or the University of Utah,” said Sam Brinton, a Redfin Premier agent in Salt Lake City, UT. “In Provo, many of the purchases within a mile of BYU are parents buying for their kids, and potentially for their kid’s friends, who will pay rent. They figure, why pay rent for four years when they can own a home and hopefully sell it later at a higher price?”

For More Affordable Housing in College Towns, Look to the Rust Belt

There are three major college towns where the median home-sale price is about $200,000 or under, less than half the national median—and all three of them are in the Rust Belt.

The least expensive college town in the U.S. is Dayton, OH, home to two major schools: Wright State University and the University of Dayton, home to a combined ~22,000 students. Dayton’s median home-sale price is roughly $137,000, making it not only the cheapest college town to buy a home, but one of the cheapest places to buy a home in the U.S., period.

Next comes Syracuse, NY, home to Syracuse University and 20,000-plus students, with a median sale price of about $170,000. It’s followed by Mount Pleasant, MI, home to Central Michigan University, where the median sale price comes in at just over $200,000.

Least Expensive College Towns, By Median Home-Sale Price (2025)
Town	Notable college	Median home-sale price	Median home-sale price, YoY change
Dayton, OH	Wright State University and University of Dayton	$137,261	7.3%
Syracuse, NY	Syracuse University	$169,779	12.1%
Mount Pleasant, MI	Central Michigan University	$201,768	7.4%
Springfield, MO	Missouri State University	$208,594	4.9%
Champaign-Urbana, IL	University of Illinois	$237,825	10.7%
Lubbock, TX	Texas Tech University	$240,210	3.1%
Greenville, NC	East Carolina University	$247,266	-1.5%
Stillwater, OK	Oklahoma State University	$253,086	8.4%
Morgantown, WV	West Virginia University	$269,154	2.1%
Tuscaloosa, AL	University of Alabama	$271,901	6.9%

College faculty, staff, and students (and their parents) don’t have to break the bank to afford housing. Many college towns have median home-sale prices well under the national average.

To view the full report of most and least expensive college towns, please visit:
https://www.redfin.com/news/most-expensive-housing-college-towns

To view Redfin’s roundup of college town housing-market data, please visit:
https://www.redfin.com/news/college-town-housing-data/

About Redfin

Redfin is a technology-driven real estate company with the country's most-visited real estate brokerage website. As part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), Redfin is creating an integrated homeownership platform from search to close to make the dream of homeownership more affordable and accessible for everyone. Redfin’s clients can see homes first with on-demand tours, easily apply for a home loan with Rocket Mortgage, and save thousands in fees while working with a top local agent.

You can find more information about Redfin and get the latest housing market data and research at Redfin.com/news. For more information about Rocket Companies, visit RocketCompanies.com.

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Source: Redfin