COMMUNITY RANKINGS

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

• Champaign-Urbana ranked #24 for “2022 Best of The Midwest – Startup City Rankings” list, August 2022 (Midwest Startups)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #2 Startup City for startup and entrepreneurial activity, February 2019 (Silicon Prairie News)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #10 on “The 10 Universities That Produce the Most Startup Founders” list, September 2016 (PitchBook)
• Why companies across the U.S. are flocking to this downstate research park, February 2016 (Crain’s Chicago Business)
• University of Illinois System ranked #21 on “The World’s Most Innovative Universities” list, September 2015 (Reuters)
• 9 Reasons Why Champaign-Urbana Is A Tech Startup Hub, September 2015 (BuzzFeed)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign named one of the top public schools to produce the best startup talent, July 2015 (TECH Cocktail)
• Champaign-Urbana named one of “The 10 Best Cities for College Grads in 2015″ by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), May 2015 (The Huffington Post)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #4 on “The 10 Best Small Cities for Educated Millennials” list, May 2015 (Business Insider)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked among top in nation for annual venture capital first fundings on a per-capita basis, with 3.2 times the national average, March 2015 (The Brookings Institution)
• Urbana-Champaign ranked #11 on “The 14 Best Startup Cities in America” list, January 2015 (Popular Mechanics)
• UIUC Has Produced Some of the Most Amazing Visionaries in Tech, December 2014 (Business Insider)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #5 in Forbes’ list of “5 Colleges That Produce Awesome IT Grads”, July 2014 (Forbes)
• University of Illinois Research Park named one of 12 Business Incubators Changing the World, July 2014 (Forbes)
• Champaign-Urbana named a “Tech Hub to Watch in 2014″, January 2014 (Smile Politely)
• EnterpriseWorks named a College-Town Incubator to Watch, June 2013 (Inc. Magazine)

EDUCATION & ACADEMICS

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain ranked #32 in the world, June 2018 (Center for World University Rankings)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #14 on “25 Top Public Colleges With The Highest-Earning Graduates” list, August 2017 (Forbes)
• Engineering at Illinois’ Online Graduate Programs ranked #9 on  “Best Online Graduate Engineering Programs” list, January 2017 (U.S. News & World Report)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #3 on “The top 10 schools for coding in the US” list, December 2016 (Business Insider)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #6 on “The top 10 U.S. colleges for a degree in finance” list, December 2016 (USA TODAY College)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked in the Top 10  on “10 Top Public National Universities” list, September 2016 (U.S. News & World Report)
• Urbana High School named as one of only 20 schools nationwide to be recognized as a “School of Opportunity”, September 2016 (National Education Policy Center)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #6 on “The 14 best colleges in the Midwest” list, August 2016 (Business Insider)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #43 on “The 50 best colleges in America” list, August 2016 (Business Insider)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #22 Best College, #1 in State of Illinois, July 2016 (Money)
• University of Illinois’ Electrical and Computer Engineering Building named R&D Magazine’s Laboratory of the Year, July 2016 (R&D Magazine)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #11 on “Top 25 Midwest Colleges Of 2016” list, July 2016 (Forbes)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #7 on “America’s Best Value Public Colleges 2016” list, May 2016 (Forbes)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked one of the Top Public Colleges that is Most Likely to Pay Off Financially, April 2016 (Money)
• College of Business at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign named one of the 20 top MBA programs whose grads land jobs right out of school, December 2015 (Business Insider)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #2 in Nation among Public Universities for International Students, November 2015 (Institute of International Education)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign named one of “15 public four-year colleges with high graduation leading to high incomes”, September 2015 (U.S. Department of Education)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign named one of the top universities that produces the most female entrepreneurs, August 2015 (CrunchBase)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #4 worldwide in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences, August 2015 (Academic Ranking of World Universities)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign named one of the top 25 best Midwest colleges, July 2015 (Forbes)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #9 on “The 10 Best Public Universities in America” list, July 2015 (Business Insider)
• Champaign ranked #17 of US cities for PhDs per capita, July 2015 (Online PhD Programs)
• Booker T. Washington STEM Academy of Champaign Unit 4 Schools featured in “Better By Design” list, July 2014 (CNN)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked as Top Ten Public College, July 2013 (Forbes)

For a full list of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign rankings, click here & here.

GETTING AROUND

• CUMTD named a Silver Bicycle Friendly Business, February 2016 (League of American Bicyclists)
• Champaign ranked #12 on “Best Places to Walk or Bike” list, May 2015 (TIME)
• Urbana ranked one of the “30 Easiest Cities to Get Around”, April 2015 (AARP)
• Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD) ranked #3 for Public Transit Use in Small Cities (& #7 Overall), July 2014 (FiveThirtyEight)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #6 on “10 Cities Where You Want to Walk to Work” list, October 2013 (MSN Real Estate)

COMMUNITY

• Urbana ranked #1 on “10 Cities Where Outdoor Lovers Can Actually Afford To Buy a Home, 2022” list, June 2022 (Realtor.com)
• Champaign ranked #91 on “2021 Top 100 Best Places to Live in America” list, October 2021 (Livability)
• Champaign ranked #1 on “Best College Towns for Homebuyers—Young Adults” list, September 2021 (Realtor.com)
• Champaign ranked #27 on “2020 Top 100 Best Places to Live” list, October 2020 (Livability)
• Champaign County ranked #16 on “40 places young people are moving” list, August 2019 (USA Today)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked on “7 Unexpectedly Great American Cities For a Weekend Visit” list, April 2019 (Thrillist)
• Champaign ranked #7 Best College Town in America, September 2018 (Livability)
• Champaign ranked #1 on “2018 Top 10 Best Cities for Recent College Grads” list, June 2018 (Livability)
• Champaign ranked #7 on “Best Affordable College Towns for Recent Grads—and Everyone Else” list, May 2018 (Realtor)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #2 College Town, November 2017 (American Institute for Economic Research / The Washington Post)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #2 on “The 20 best college towns in America” list, January 2017 (Business Insider)
• Urbana named a Green Power Community for its use of green power through the city’s municipal electric aggregation program, July 2016 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
• The Upper Bout named “Best Emerging Dealer” in the country, June 2016 (National Association of Music Merchants)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #4 among “Top Cities and Towns for Job-Seeking College Grads” list, May 2016 (American Institute for Economic Research)
• Of America’s 325 fastest-growing cities, one is in Illinois – Champaign, May 2016 (U.S. Census Bureau)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #1 on “The 30 most fun colleges in America” list, February 2016 (Business Insider)
• Champaign ranked #7 Small City (#11 overall) on “2015’s Best College Cities & Towns in America” list, December 2015 (WalletHub)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #2 on “Top 10 College Towns You’ll Never Want to Leave” list, October 2015 (College Magazine)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #32 on ” 2015’s Best Cities for Black Entrepreneurs” list, October 2015 (GoodCall)
• Why the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Has the Best Big Ten Music Scene, September 2015 (BuzzFeed)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign named #11 of “The 25 Fittest U.S. Colleges in 2015”, September 2015 (ACTIVE)
• Champaign ranked #15 Least-Stressed City in America, September 2015 (The Huffington Post)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked the healthiest metro area in Illinois, August 2015 (24/7 Wall Street)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked 25th best place in the country for EMTs and Paramedics to live and work, July 2015 (GoodCall)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #7 on Livability’s “10 Best College Towns 2014″ list, August 2014 (Livability)
• Champaign ranked #7 in “The 10 Most Exciting Places In Illinois”, April 2014 (Movoto Real Estate)
• Champaign ranked Illinois’ Third Fastest-Growing City, April 2014 (NerdWallet)
• Champaign-Urbana named #5 Smart Growth Community (Small Metro Area), April 2014 (Smart Growth America)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #5 in “Best Places for Work-Life Balance” list, July 2013 (NerdWallet)

FOOD & DRINK

• Maize Mexican Grill named Best Burrito in Illinois — and the 11th-best in the country, August 2018 (The Daily Meal)
• Farren’s Pub & Eatery Named Top Burger Restaurant in Illinois, August 2018 (TripAdvisor)
• Champaign-Urbana named “Best Midwest Food Town”, August 2017 (Midwest Living)
• Champaign ranked as “Best College Food Town in Illinois”, August 2017 (Tasting Table)
• Curtis Orchard’s Honey named “2016 Best Tasting Honey in the World”, March 2017 (The Center for Honey Bee Research)
• Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery’s Goat Cheese named one of “8 Must-Try Midwest Cheeses”, February 2017 (Feast Magazine)
• Dragon Fire Pizza named on “50 of the Best College Town Pizzerias in the Country” list, December 2016 (Cosmopolitan & Yelp)
• Triptych Brewing (Savoy) & JT Walker’s Brewery (Mahomet) named on “The 21 Best Breweries in Illinois” list, September 2016 (Thrillist)
• Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery’s Huckleberry Blue Cheese named one of “The 49 Best American Cheeses”, July 2016 (Men’s Journal)
• Farren’s named best burger in Champaign-Urbana on “The Best Burger in Every Big Ten Town” list, October 2015 (Thrillist)
• Champaign-Urbana ranked #3 on “Illinois Food & Drink” list, May 2015 (Thrillist)