The cost difference between living on- and off-campus in the 48 biggest college towns in America, ranked

Jordan Silverman/Getty Images

Is it cheaper to live on campus or off campus during college?

• With the cost of college already at an all-time high, is it more affordable to live on campus or off campus?
• Trulia recently took a look at how much it costs to live on campus and off campus in 48 of America's biggest college towns.
• In more than half of the places, it was either the same price or cheaper to live off campus, with an average savings of $219 a month - but there are a few caveats.

The cost of college has already reached an all-time high - and while many worry about the price tag of tuition, they often overlook the expense of a place to live.

But what's more affordable - the dorm room on campus or an apartment off campus? Well, that answer depends on which college you attend and which college town you're living in.

Trulia recently took a look at how much it costs to live on campus and off campus in 48 of America's biggest college towns. To determine this list, Trulia chose US Census-defined places of at least 45,000 people, 20% of which were enrolled in college or graduate school.

Consulting the website of the largest college or university in each place, the site then calculated on-campus housing costs for a full nine-month academic year based on monthly or per-semester rates, excluding meal plans where possible.

Trulia then compared on-campus monthly housing costs to the median estimated monthly cost of a two-bedroom home in a 12-month rental in each place, assuming the cost was split in half between two roommates and divided over nine months to match the academic year.

In more than half of the places, it was either the same price or cheaper to live off campus, with an average savings of $219 a month for those with a roommate. However, eight of these places include meal plans in the on-campus housing costs - if removed, that brings the average savings down to $146 a month. And, most utilities aren't included in off-campus rentals, which could lessen the savings once factored in.

For the 20 places where on-campus housing was more affordable, students would save an average of $221 a month. Note that none of these included a meal plan.

Below, see how much it costs to live on- and off-campus in America's biggest college towns. Starred on-campus monthly housing costs indicate that a meal plan was included in the estimate.