Ann Arbor SPARK’s popular football blog series is back for Michigan’s 143rd season! We use the football season as an opportunity to compare Ann Arbor to cities around the country represented by our U-M football competition. The question is always – how does Ann Arbor compare to other college towns in the U.S.?
The Wolverines continue their non-conference home schedule this week with a matchup against the University of Connecticut Huskies. Saturday’s game between U-M and UConn marks the third matchup between the two athletic programs in history. The Huskies kept the Wolverines on their toes during the last game in 2013 as they led going into the fourth quarter, but the Wolverines came back to win the game, 24-21. Could this be the first nail-biter of the season for U-M? We will have to wait until Saturday to find out. In the meantime, let’s see how Storrs Mansfield stacks up to Ann Arbor.
Located in Storrs, one of 19 historic villages comprising the town of Mansfield, the University of Connecticut was known originally as the Storrs Agricultural School when classes began in 1881. Storrs is a small, mostly rural area located 30-minutes from Hartford; 60 minutes from Providence, R.I.; and 90 minutes from Boston by car. Despite its rural roots, UConn has worked hard to establish Connecticut as an East Coast innovation hub similar to the sentiment held here in Michigan for Ann Arbor’s spirit of innovation and ingenuity.
Sizewise, Ann Arbor and Storrs Mansfield are very different. The population of Storrs Mansfield is about a fifth the size of Ann Arbor while the cost of living, median household income, and unemployment rate are higher. Both populations are highly educated, but Ann Arbor comes out on top with 77.3 percent of the population over the age of 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Be on the lookout for our blog posts ahead of each game all season long and be sure to tag us when you share these interesting tidbits with your friends via social media! And, if you want more information like this or are curious to learn more about the Ann Arbor region and what makes it such a great place to live, work, and locate your business in, please reach out to our Director of Research, Melissa Sheldon.
Sources
Where do we get our numbers? And what do they mean?
- Population data comes from the U.S. Census, 2021 Population Estimates. Check out Ann Arbor’s data.
- Enrollment data comes from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Review University of Michigan data.
- Research expenditure data comes from the National Science Foundation. View the Rankings by Total R&D Expenditures.
- Educational attainment data comes from the US Census 2016-2020 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates. We look specifically at the population over the age of 25, and the highest level attained. Check out Ann Arbor’s data.
- The rankings come from U.S. News and World Report unless otherwise noted.
