Ames, Iowa, is the top-ranked college town in the US, according to a new list from American Institute for Economic Research.

The city of roughly 60,000 people earned the top spot thanks to its affordable cost of living and ample employment opportunities in the fields of science and technology.

The rankings are calculated using 11 criteria including economic vitality, availability of entertainment, and rent. AIER defines small towns as having less than 250,000 residents.

Scroll through to find out the 20 best college towns.

20. Mankato, Minnesota — home of Minnesota State University Via Wikimedia Commons





19. Blacksburg, Virginia — home of Virginia Tech Flickr / Tina Merritt





18. Morgantown, West Virginia — home of West Virginia University Flickr / Jeff Turner





17. State College, Pennsylvania — home of Pennsylvania State University Flickr / Amir Nejad





16. Urbana-Champaign, Illinois — home of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Flickr / Maitri





15. Lawrence, Kansas — home of the University of Kansas Bhall87 at en.wikipedia





14. Rochester, Minnesota — home of the University of Minnesota Rochester Flickr/Dougtone





13. College Station, Texas — home of Texas A&M University Pmelton87





12. Bloomington, Indiana — home of Indiana University Bloomington Flickr / Bart Everson





11. Manhattan, Kansas — home of Kansas State University Wikipedia





10. Lafayette, Indiana — The metropolitan area is home to Purdue University Flickr / kdemerly





9. Fargo, North Dakota — home of North Dakota State University Flickr / Hilton Lieberum





8. Missoula, Montana — home of the University of Montana Flickr/Jocelyn Catterson





7. Corvallis, Oregon — home of Oregon State University Flickr / Kirt Edblom





6. Santa Fe, New Mexico — home of St. John's College Santa Fe and Santa Fe University of Art and Design Flickr / MortAuPat





5. Columbia, Missouri — home of the University of Missouri Flickr / Mike Tigas





4. Charlottesville, Virginia — home of the University of Virginia Flickr / Bob Mical





3. Iowa City, Iowa — home of the University of Iowa University of Iowa/Facebook





2. Ithaca, New York — home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Flickr/ Doug Kerr





1. Ames, Iowa — home of Iowa State University Flickr / Carl Wycoff





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