Best PlacesDowntown Brownsville, Brownsville, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville ranks 5,635th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville
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.
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville ranks high
- Cheap childcare$712 a month, better than 94% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
Where Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Household income$32,703 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $32,703, 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 Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville's effective rate of 1.48%, 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 Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville 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 Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville.
Who works in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville, and how
Work in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 27 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville, month by month
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 75, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 75° | 62° | 52° |
| April | 88° | 76° | 67° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 78° |
| October | 89° | 77° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville
The nearest airport, Brownsville/South Padre Island International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 258 miles away.
The best schools in and around Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville
Schools across Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville average a C, better than 44% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Skinner ElD · 17% proficient
- Egly ElD− · 12% proficient
- Sharp ElD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oliveira MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
- Faulk MiddleD · 22% proficient
- Stell MiddleD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Brownsville Early College H SA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville 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 Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville
Is Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville ranks 5,635th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on civic engagement and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $75,449. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $32,703 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville safe?
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville is safer than 20% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $868 per resident a year.
Compare Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville 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.
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downtown Brownsville, Brownsville 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.