States With the Best & Worst Community Colleges (2025)

University education is out of reach for many Americans, especially those from low-income households. But thanks to community colleges, higher education is more accessible than ever. Compared with public four-year institutions, where tuition and fees cost almost three times as much on average, community colleges offer many savings for students.

Community colleges are an especially attractive option this year as many families deal with financial struggles caused by significant inflation. Students who initially planned on attending a private four-year college might want to consider spending two years at a community college and transferring those credits once they are in a better financial situation.

Some states make community college even more accessible than usual. For example, multiple states and numerous cities across the U.S. have started “College Promise” programs that give residents free rides to community college.

Despite the fact that community colleges can offer significant cost advantages, not every state offers schools of the same quality. Drawing on the findings of WalletHub of the best and worst individual community colleges in the U.S., we present a state-by-state ranking of community-college systems below.

“Community colleges are an especially attractive option this year as many families deal with inflated prices. Students who initially planned on attending a private four-year college might want to consider spending two years at a community college and transferring those credits once they are in a better financial situation.”

Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst

Main Findings

Best Community College Systems

In-Depth Look at the States With the Best Community Colleges

Best State: Maryland

Maryland has the best community colleges, with its five best schools all ranking within the top 40 community colleges nationwide. Maryland is also one of the states that currently offers free community college education.

The top community college in Maryland is Montgomery College, which has several campuses in Montgomery County. This school ranks 17th among the best community colleges nationally, standing out due to high median salaries for graduates, good student retention rates and the fact that it offers credit for life experiences.

Top 5 Community Colleges in Maryland

1. Montgomery College (Rank 17 nationally)
2. Prince George’s Community College (Rank 28 nationally)
3. Carroll Community College (Rank 31 nationally)
4. Howard Community College (Rank 32 nationally)
5. The Community College of Baltimore County (Rank 36 nationally)

Second-Best State: New Mexico

New Mexico has the second-best community colleges, and its five best schools rank in the top 40 among more than 650 community colleges nationwide. The state also offers the opportunity for free community college to all New Mexico residents.

The best community college in New Mexico is Santa Fe Community College, which ranks as the seventh best in the U.S. One way that it stands out is that it has a high ratio of faculty to students. In addition, it brings in a lot of revenue from non-tuition sources like state and local taxes, gifts and grants, which allows it to invest a lot into making the education experience better for its students.

Top 5 Community Colleges in New Mexico

1. Santa Fe Community College (Rank 7 nationally)
2. Southeast New Mexico College (Rank 19 nationally)
3. Central New Mexico Community College (Rank 22 nationally)
4. San Juan College (Rank 25 nationally)
5. Clovis Community College (Rank 37 nationally)

Third-Best State: Wisconsin

Wisconsin has the third-best community colleges, with its five best schools all ranking in the top 90 community colleges in the nation. Wisconsin colleges also offer employment services for students, and it prepares people well to advance to higher education since it has the sixth-best public schools in the nation.

The top community college in Wisconsin is Moraine Park Technical College. It offers services to help graduates find jobs, receives a lot of funding from private gifts, grants, and contracts, and it also offers credit for life experiences.

Top 5 Community Colleges in Wisconsin

1. Moraine Park Technical College (Rank 24 nationally)
2. Lakeshore Technical College (Rank 26 nationally)
3. Fox Valley Technical College (Rank 34 nationally)
4. Northwood Technical College (Rank 38 nationally)
5. Mid-State Technical College (Rank 88 nationally)

Methodology

In order to determine the best and worst community-college systems in the U.S., we drew upon our analysis of 2025’s Best & Worst Community Colleges, which was conducted at the individual-school level across a sample of 653 institutions and 18 key metrics.

For our state-by-state analysis, we calculated a weighted average of the scores earned by the community colleges in each state and the number of students enrolled in each school. The state with the highest average corresponds with a rank of No. 1, or the best community-college system. We also took into account only the states that had at least two community colleges present in our sample of the Best & Worst Community Colleges in order to ensure comparability of results.

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of July 15, 2025 from the National Center for Education Statistics, Campaign for Free College Tuition, U.S. Department of Education and Council for Community & Economic Research.

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