Each year, Coldwell Banker ranks the affordability of towns that have major colleges.

Stanford University and the University of Akron are each frontrunners on different spectrums of the home price ranking, holding titles of the most expensive and most affordable college towns, respectively. An average home in Palo Alto, Calif., costs approximately $1.74 million while the same home in Akron, Ohio averages at $135,780 – a $1.6 million price difference.

Interesting, but not surprising. Schools like Boston College, University of Miami, and UCLA are located in expensive cities, while schools like the University of Akron are not. But how does State College compare? It seems to me that we live in a pretty small town. It certainly feels that way.

The average price of a home in State College this year is $311,125. That’s more expensive than I thought it would be. But it’s still probably a good value for Pennsylvania, right?

Well, Coldwell Banker calculated the average cost of a house in Pittsburgh to be $267,980. Yes, that’s right, Pittsburgh is a cheaper spot to live than State College is, according to average home prices. At least we have the better football team.