Best PlacesWest Brownsville, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Brownsville, 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.
West Brownsville ranks 33,442nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West 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.
West Brownsville's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Brownsville ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 77% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 74% of towns
Where West Brownsville ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Brownsville
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Brownsville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,250, 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 West Brownsville's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 West Brownsville
West Brownsville 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 West Brownsville.
Who works in West Brownsville, and how
Work in West Brownsville centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in West Brownsville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Brownsville.
What the weather is like in West Brownsville, month by month
West Brownsville sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of West Brownsville
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 37 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Brownsville
Schools across West Brownsville average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- California Area El SchB+ · 53% proficient
- Brownsville Area El SchC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brownsville Area MsD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- California Area ShsA · 70% proficient
- Brownsville Area HsB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Brownsville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West 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 West Brownsville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Brownsville
Is West Brownsville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Brownsville ranks 33,442nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, cell coverage, and health care access, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Brownsville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $90,400. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $66,250 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is West Brownsville safe?
West Brownsville is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $409 per resident a year.
Compare West Brownsville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Brownsville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West 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.
West Brownsville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Brownsville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Brownsville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Brownsville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Brownsville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West 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.