Best PlacesBrawley, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brawley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Brawley ranks 2,028th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Brawley
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Brawley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brawley ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of cities
- Short commute18.3 minutes each way, better than 93% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 193 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of cities
- QuietBetter than 71% of cities
Where Brawley ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Brawley
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brawley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $69,696; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Brawley's effective rate of 0.80%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Brawley
Brawley runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brawley.
Who works in Brawley, and how
Work in Brawley centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Brawley
Brawley has more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Brawley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Brawley, month by month
Brawley sees roughly 193 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 111 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 55° | 41° |
| April | 91° | 73° | 56° |
| July | 111° | 95° | 80° |
| October | 93° | 76° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Brawley
The nearest airport, Imperial County, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Diego International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brawley
Schools across Brawley average a C−, better than 16% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Mulberry ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Magnolia Union ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Ben Hulse ElementaryC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frank M. Wright MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Barbara Worth Junior HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Bill E. Young Jr. MiddleD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Imperial HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Brawley Union HighC · 31% proficient
- Holtville HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brawley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brawley measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Brawley against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Brawley suits
Common questions about living in Brawley
Is Brawley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brawley ranks 2,028th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, short commutes, and the weather, and lowest on a weak job market and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brawley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $283,333. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $69,696 median income, cost of living beats 13% of cities.
Is Brawley safe?
Brawley is safer than 14% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $494 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Brawley?
July highs average about 111 degrees, and January highs near 71 with lows near 41. That works out to about 193 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of cities.
Is Brawley good for families?
Schools beat 16% of cities, crime safety beats 14%, and childcare runs $898 a month.
Compare Brawley with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brawley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brawley represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Brawley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brawley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brawley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brawley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brawley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brawley detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.