Best PlacesBrownstown, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brownstown, 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.
Brownstown ranks 45,431st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Brownstown
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.
Brownstown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brownstown ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- BikingBetter than 81% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 70% of towns
Where Brownstown ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Brownstown
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brownstown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,165, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Brownstown's effective rate of 1.24%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Brownstown
Brownstown's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brownstown.
Who works in Brownstown, and how
Work in Brownstown centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Brownstown
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Brownstown.
What the weather is like in Brownstown, month by month
Brownstown sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Brownstown
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brownstown
Schools across Brownstown average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Brownstown Elem SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brownstown Jr High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Brownstown High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brownstown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brownstown 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 Brownstown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Brownstown
Is Brownstown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brownstown ranks 45,431st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and biking, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brownstown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $87,727. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $59,165 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Brownstown safe?
Brownstown is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $472 per resident a year.
Compare Brownstown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brownstown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brownstown 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.
Brownstown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brownstown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brownstown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brownstown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brownstown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brownstown 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.