Average Cost of College by Campus Setting (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Median net price is highest at Urban (City) campuses ($20,053) and lowest at Town ($14,971) in the College Scorecard extract. Urban city campuses report median net price +7.2% vs rural campuses nationally. U.S. overall medians: $9,969 net price, $5,512 in-state tuition.
Key facts
- Campuses grouped by NCES locale: urban (city), suburban, town, and rural.
- Full profiles: Urban · Suburban · Town · Rural.
- Also see cost by state and campus-setting profiles.
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Median net price by campus setting
Setting matters
Net price after grant aid varies by where the campus sits in the NCES locale taxonomy—not only by state or sector. Urban city campuses tend to carry higher sticker and net prices than town campuses in this extract.
Medians across all reporting campuses in each locale group. Source: College Scorecard (2024).
Median in-state tuition by campus setting
Costs and outcomes by campus setting
| Setting | In-state tuition | Net price | Median debt | Completion | Earnings (10 yr) | Campuses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban (City) | $15,200 | $20,053 | $14,000 | 54.7% | $57,648 | 1,346 |
| Suburban | $13,135 | $18,048 | $13,938 | 51.7% | $55,043 | 684 |
| Town | $9,600 | $14,971 | $15,000 | 52.2% | $52,248 | 1,517 |
| Rural | $14,160 | $18,700 | $12,000 | 54.0% | $58,295 | 1,649 |
Urban vs. rural net price by state
States with at least three urban and three rural reporting campuses. Median net price after aid.
| State | Urban net price | Rural net price | Urban vs rural | Campuses (urban / rural) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $20,970 | $8,169 | +156.7% | 10 / 4 |
| New Mexico | $15,634 | $7,035 | +122.2% | 9 / 4 |
| Oregon | $29,411 | $13,894 | +111.7% | 19 / 12 |
| Washington | $24,488 | $13,711 | +78.6% | 15 / 20 |
| North Carolina | $19,536 | $14,240 | +37.2% | 44 / 20 |
| Georgia | $22,132 | $16,962 | +30.5% | 21 / 40 |
| Pennsylvania | $25,898 | $19,966 | +29.7% | 46 / 134 |
| Louisiana | $15,222 | $20,850 | -27.0% | 15 / 17 |
| Oklahoma | $18,005 | $14,560 | +23.7% | 27 / 10 |
| Massachusetts | $26,649 | $22,248 | +19.8% | 28 / 66 |
| New Jersey | $16,053 | $19,781 | -18.8% | 11 / 110 |
| Michigan | $15,232 | $18,724 | -18.6% | 11 / 53 |
| Missouri | $23,702 | $20,218 | +17.2% | 28 / 32 |
| Arizona | $20,886 | $24,863 | -16.0% | 54 / 15 |
| Illinois | $17,805 | $15,405 | +15.6% | 59 / 80 |
Methodology
Campus-setting groups follow NCES locale codes in College Scorecard school.locale: urban (city, code 11), suburban (12), town (13 and 31–33), and rural (21–23). Medians aggregate institution-level fields; campuses with missing values are omitted from each column. State urban-vs-rural gaps require at least three campuses per setting in that state.
Data sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard
- NCES locale classification (urban-centric campus location)