Ranking SEC college towns by population from largest to smallest

[ASFN Admin]

The SEC is home to some of the best college towns in the country. Well, at least some of them can be considered towns. Some SEC schools, like Vanderbilt and Texas, are really located in major cities.

The sweet spot for SEC college towns appears to be between a population 100,000 and 150,000. Half of the SEC's 16 schools land in this zone. This size is perfect and is big enough to host major events, but still small enough to have a true college town feel.

There's nothing wrong with a big or small college town either. Below we rank all 16 SEC college towns from biggest (Austin, Texas) to smallest (Starkville, Mississippi). All population data is from the U.S. Census and is estimated for July 1, 2025.

Ranking SEC college towns largest to smallest population​

1. Austin, Texas​

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• School: University of Texas
• Population: 1,002,632
• Student enrollment: 55,000

2. Nashville, Tennessee​

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• School: Vanderbilt University
• Population: 721,074 (Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government)
• Student enrollment: 13,670

3. Lexington, Kentucky​

• School: University of Kentucky
• Population: 329,751 (for Lexington-Fayette urban county)
• Student enrollment: 38,719

4. Baton Rouge, Louisiana​

• School: Louisiana State University
• Population: 222,795
• Student enrollment: 39,672

5. Knoxville, Tennessee​

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• School: University of Tennessee
• Population: 202,021
• Student enrollment: 40,421

6. Gainesville, Florida​

• School: University of Florida
• Population: 148,671
• Student enrollment: 61,890

7. Columbia, South Carolina​

• School: University of South Carolina
• Population: 147,035
• Student enrollment: 40,334

8. Norman, Oklahoma​

• School: University of Oklahoma
• Population: 130,943
• Student enrollment: 36,510

9. Columbia, Missouri​

• School: University of Missouri
• Population: 130,851
• Student enrollment: 32,105

10. Athens, Georgia​

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• School: University of Georgia
• Population: 128,612 (for Athens-Clarke County unified government)
• Student enrollment: 43,888

11. College Station, Texas​

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• School: Texas A&M University
• Population: 127,472
• Student enrollment: 81,314

12. Tuscaloosa, Alabama​

• School: University of Alabama
• Population: 114,316
• Student enrollment: 42,360

13. Fayetteville, Arkansas​

• School: University of Arkansas
• Population: 106,623
• Student enrollment: 34,161

14. Auburn, Alabama​

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• School: Auburn University
• Population: 85,113
• Student enrollment: 35,172

15. Oxford, Mississippi​

• School: University of Mississippi
• Population: 26,773
• Student enrollment: 25,222

16. Starkville, Mississippi​

• School: Mississippi State University
• Population: 25,754
• Student enrollment: 23,563

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This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Ranking SEC college towns by population from largest to smallest

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