Seattle named 4th best college city in America

SEATTLE -- There are plenty of colleges around the Seattle area, and those that attend school here do so in one of the best college cities in the nation, according to a new study.

Seattle ranked No. 4 among large cities and No. 11 overall, says the study by WalletHub, which compared more than 400 U.S. cities based on 30 key indicators of academic, social and economic growth potential.

The data set ranges from cost of living to quality of higher education to crime rate.

Seattle, home to the University of Washington, Seattle University, Cornish College, Seattle Pacific University and a number of community colleges, rated high on nightlife options (6th out of 208), 15th in least amount of "brain drain", 24th in city accessibility and 32nd in quality of higher education.

Where Seattle rated not-so-great was in percentage of available rental units (154th), and cost of higher education (163rd).

Austin, Texas was rated the best college city with Tampa and Las Vegas rated ahead of Seattle for large cities. Oakland was rated the worst large city, just ahead of Detroit.