Largest College Towns Where Students Save the Most by Living On (or Off) Campus

Tuition is a major cost for college students, but it’s not the only expense they have to cover with student loans and other types of funding. Housing can also come with a high price tag, especially for students attending schools in large — and expensive — cities.

According to the College Board, the annual cost of room and board at four-year public colleges averages $11,950 in 2021-2022. At four-year private colleges, the annual price jumps to $13,620, on average.

But the latest LendingTree study finds that moving off campus in the largest U.S. cities with at least two four-year colleges won’t necessarily lower the price. In fact, researchers found that the annual cost difference between attending college while living on or off campus is virtually nonexistent in these cities.

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Key findings

• Across the 100 largest U.S. cities with at least two four-year colleges, there’s virtually no difference between the annual cost of attending college while living on campus or off campus. The average difference across the 100 cities is $335.
• If you’re looking to save money by living off campus, Cambridge, Mass., is your top option. Across the three Cambridge colleges with available data — including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — it’s $5,982 cheaper on average to live off campus than it is to live on campus.
• On the other hand, If you’re looking to save money by living on campus, consider Charleston, S.C. Across the three colleges included from Charleston, it’s $5,380 cheaper, on average, to live on campus than it is to live off campus.
• Across seven large U.S. cities, there’s no difference in the annual cost of attending college while living on or off campus. These cities are spread across the U.S. — from Tacoma, Wash., to Lubbock, Texas, to Dayton, Ohio.

Where it’s cheaper to live off campus

Cambridge, Mass. — home to prestigious colleges including MIT — rises to the top, with students saving an average of $5,982 by living off campus rather than on campus. (Harvard University is also in Cambridge, but off-campus living costs weren’t available to include it among the schools analyzed in the study.) That said, Cambridge is still a relatively expensive place to live. PayScale says the city’s cost of living is 74% higher than the national average.

Next up on the LendingTree list is another Massachusetts town, Springfield. Students could save an average of $4,315 by opting for off-campus housing and see their average total price drop from $56,541 to $52,226. (Western New England University is among the three colleges examined in Springfield.)

Students who go to school in Tampa, Fla., Fairfield, Conn., or Syracuse, N.Y., could also see their annual bills drop by $3,110, $3,058 and $2,837, respectively, if they live off campus. This table shows the full list of the largest U.S. cities where the average cost of living off campus is less than the cost of living on campus:

Largest college towns where students save annually by living off campus

Source: LendingTree analysis of Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data. Notes: Only cities with at least two four-year colleges with available data were included. The differences are rounded, though complete numbers were used in calculations.

Where it’s cheaper to live on campus

In 53 of the 100 cities researchers analyzed, it costs less on average to opt for on-campus than off-campus housing. In Charleston, S.C, for example, it’s $5,380 cheaper on average to live on campus than it is to live off campus at the three schools (including the College of Charleston) examined. Students who head off campus can expect an annual cost of attendance of $40,217, while students who live in the dorms will have an average price tag of $34,838.

College students in Little Rock, Ark., might also see significant savings if they live in the dorms. Researchers found that opting for on-campus housing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock or Philander Smith College reduced their average annual cost by $4,616, from $30,117 to $25,501.

The other cities where students tend to spend less to live on campus are Bakersfield, Calif., (savings of $4,587), Orlando, Fla. (savings of $3,713), and Fresno, Calif. (savings of $3,681). This table shows the full results:

Largest college towns where students save annually by living on campus

Source: LendingTree analysis of Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data. Notes: Only cities with at least two four-year colleges with available data were included. The differences are rounded, though complete numbers were used in calculations.

Where it costs the same to live on campus as off campus

In seven of the 100 cities, researchers found no difference in the annual cost between living on or off campus. Whether you opt for a dorm or off-campus apartment in one of these cities, you might not see your cost of attendance change very much.

These cities are across the U.S., from Washington to Texas to Alabama. This table has all the details:

Largest college towns where students pay the same annually on and off campus

Source: LendingTree analysis of Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data. Notes: Only cities with at least two four-year colleges with available data were included. The differences are rounded, though complete numbers were used in calculations.

On campus vs. off campus: Other considerations

If you’re deciding between living on campus and off campus, there might be some other factors to consider besides the cost. According to LendingTree senior writer Andrew Pentis, there are often benefits to living on campus that could make a higher price tag worth it.

What’s more, Pentis points out that you won’t have to worry about utility costs in a dorm, while you may need to pay monthly bills for electricity, gas or Wi-Fi if you opt for an apartment.

On the other hand, living in an apartment could be a smart option for students who want to stay in the area year-round.

Estimate your full cost of attendance

The cost of college can vary widely depending on the school and location you choose. When comparing your options, make sure to take your school’s full cost of attendance into account.

And while it might be tempting to think that an off-campus apartment would be less expensive than a dorm, the data shows that that’s not always the case.

In fact, there were many cities on this list where opting for on-campus housing saved students money on average — perhaps due to the rising costs of rent across the country. Besides comparing the costs of on-campus and off-campus housing, it could also be worth looking at the location’s overall cost of living.

Going to school in an expensive city, for example, could end up costing you a lot more in living expenses than choosing a school in a smaller, less expensive locale. While other factors go into selecting a college than price, it’s also important to consider costs so you don’t end up over-stretching your finances or taking on more student loan debt than you can afford.

Methodology

To determine the largest college towns where students save the most by living on or off campus, LendingTree researchers first pulled population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Researchers used the population figures to determine the 100 largest U.S. cities with at least two four-year colleges (and full data available). This means cities with only one four-year college with available data — such as Phoenix and Las Vegas — aren’t included in this roundup.

Once researchers had the 100 largest cities that met the criteria, they calculated the difference between the annual cost of attending college while living on campus and off campus. These cities were ranked by the average difference, whether it was cheaper to live on or off campus.

2020 on-campus and off-campus data is from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), while population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau 2019 1-year American Community Survey.