Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

After considering its youthful population, career options, wages, housing and things to do, one website has ranked Tempe as the best college town in the country.

The top 10 list was compiled by Livability, which for 28 years has researched small to mid-size communities and published lists ranking them on various factors.

This list ranks Tempe ahead of Cambridge, Massachusetts, home of Harvard University, and Irvine, California, home of University of California-Irvine.

Tempe also ranked No. 7 on the site's list of Top 10 Downtowns and No. 34 on its 50 Best Cities for Entrepreneurs this year.

Meanwhile, business website 24/7 Wall St. named Tucson America's 37th worst city to live in earlier this year.

Just saying.

Why the site picked Tempe

The site praised Tempe for its outdoor activities and range of employment, entertainment, dining and shopping options thanks to its proximity to Phoenix and Scottsdale, but mostly focused on "the star" of Tempe's "cultural and business growth," Arizona State University.

"It typically employs well over 10,000 people. It also gives Tempe residents cultural and entertainment opportunities, like visiting its art and theater productions, or attending sporting events," Livability wrote.

"But the university also deposits qualified, educated workers into the workforce after every semester, which has allowed the area to make big strides in a huge range of industries, including financial and aerospace — sectors that rely on infrastructure and a workforce that can supply the kind of employees that can make their businesses successful."

How the cities were chosen

The cities were ranked based on the population of 25- to 29-year-olds, the percentage of jobs in the education sector, local restaurants and bars, affordable housing and diversity.

"An educated workforce brings in industry and employment opportunities," Livability wrote. "Successful universities are always huge employers in communities, too. That’s why just to get on our 2016 list, towns had to have more than three colleges, and a high percentage of jobs in the education sector."

The other cities, from lowest to highest, were Provo, Utah; Denton, Texas; Greensboro, North Carolina; Fairfax, Virginia; Tallahassee, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Cambridge; Columbia, South Carolina; and Irvine.

"Each of them gives as much as they get from their communities. And the real winners are the residents, who get the kind of quality of life that only comes from living in one of the Top 10 College Towns in the US."

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Quiz: How well do you know Arizona State University?