Best PlacesLake Brownwood, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Brownwood, 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.
Lake Brownwood ranks 26,301st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Brownwood
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.
Lake Brownwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Brownwood ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 157 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
Where Lake Brownwood ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Brownwood
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Brownwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,804; 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 Lake Brownwood's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake Brownwood
Lake Brownwood runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake Brownwood.
Who works in Lake Brownwood, and how
Work in Lake Brownwood centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lake Brownwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Brownwood.
What the weather is like in Lake Brownwood, month by month
Lake Brownwood sees roughly 157 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 45° | 33° |
| April | 79° | 65° | 53° |
| July | 97° | 84° | 72° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Lake Brownwood
The nearest airport, Abilene Regional, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Brownwood
Schools across Lake Brownwood average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- J B Stephens ElB · 50% proficient
- May ElC · 33% proficient
- Northwest ElC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Early MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Bangs MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Brownwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Brownwood 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 Lake Brownwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Brownwood
Is Lake Brownwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Brownwood ranks 26,301st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on summer heat and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Brownwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $295,024. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $70,804 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Lake Brownwood safe?
Lake Brownwood is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $570 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Brownwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Brownwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Brownwood 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.
Lake Brownwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Brownwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Brownwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Brownwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Brownwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Brownwood 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.