And Washington's best college town is ... Bellingham!

Methodology

We gathered a list of college towns and narrowed it down to cities with fewer than 250,000* residents. We kept in mind that the metro areas surrounding the smaller towns would also include the student population.

Using data from the United States Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we analyzed overall population, student population, rental costs, college education rates, transportation access, unemployment rates, and bar availability.

From there, we narrowed it down further by weighing the cost of living, unemployment rates for 20–24 year olds, and easy access to the city.