So many times Buffalo gets a bad reputation -- when it comes to snow for one. But this time, we get an accolade.

Buffalo finished #4 in mid-size metros for best college towns or cites.

These cities topped the AIER College Destinations Index based on the destination’s performance across the following 12 areas:
  • Student Concentration: number of college students per 1,000 population
  • Student Diversity: percentage of student body that are non-U.S. residents
  • Research Capacity: academic R&D expenditures per capita
  • Degree Attainment: percent of the 25-to-34-year-old population with bachelor’s degree or higher
  • Cost of Living: based upon average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment
  • Arts and Leisure: number of cultural and entertainment venues per 100,000 population
  • City Accessibility: percentage of workers over age 16 who commute on foot or by public transportation or bicycle
  • Creative Class: percentage of workforce in the arts, education, knowledge industries, science and engineering, management and other fields
  • Earning Potential: income per capita
  • Entrepreneurial Activity: net annual increase in total number of business establishments per 100,000 population
  • Brain Gain/Drain: year-over-year ratio of population with B.A. degree (it is only population with B.A degree, not all the college level) living in the area
  • Unemployment rate

Rochester was seventh. Syracuse did not make the list.

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