USA TODAY says Kentucky is home to the 3rd best small college town in the US
A Western Kentucky city landed near the very top of USA TODAY’s best small college town list, released this month.
Murray, home to Murray State University, placed third on the publication’s 2026 list. It was the second appearance for the city of 17,000 residents on the small college towns list after a fourth-place finish last year.
“We’re honored and appreciative receive that recognition,” Murray’s mayor, Bob Rogers, wrote in an email. “Obviously we think that Murray is a great place to live, work, raise a family and receive a quality education. I hope every town or city feels the same way about theirs.”
USA TODAY cited the city’s bars and locally owned casual restaurants. Located less than half an hour from Kentucky Lake, Murray’s outdoor stores were also noted as a draw.
The stores “keep everyone enjoying the local parks, which offer amenities like disc golf, a skate park, and a huge soccer complex,” the publication wrote. “Non-collegiate visitors love the famed Calloway County Quilt Trail, which features more than 60 quilt patterns painted on barns, homes, and other buildings throughout the countryside.”
In a blog post billed as celebrating the USA TODAY ranking, Murray’s tourism bureau highlighted the city’s diverse cuisine, citywide yard sale and smiling faces “everywhere.” The bureau’s executive director, Erin Carrico, said in a statement the top three ranking was an “incredible honor.”
USA TODAY specifically looked at college towns with populations of less than 50,000 residents. In a list with some of the country’s largest universities on it, Murray stuck out as among the more quaint spots.
Rounding out the top three were Blacksburg, Virginia, in second and State College, Pennsylvania, in first. Under Murray on the list, in order, were Oxford, Mississippi; Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Ruston, Louisiana; Jacksonville, Alabama; Clemson, South Carolina; Charlottesville, Virginia and Burlington, Vermont.
USA TODAY decides its best-of lists based on nominations from “a panel of experts,” often courted by public relations professionals from the industries they’re nominating for, according to one panelist who did not work on the top small college towns list. The publication’s editors then curate a list of 20 for readers to vote on
This year’s panelists consisted of 10 travel journalists and bloggers.
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