AreaProfile

Brownsville, Texas

Area Profile

189,177 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Brownsville, in Cameron County.

55
Area Score
Bottom 17% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity132nd of 139 published cities33
GrowthTop 18% of 134 published cities66
Housing affordabilityTop 4% of 150 published cities93
ClimateTop 39% of 149 published cities73
Physical resilience127th of 150 published cities21
Access132nd of 149 published cities84
Economic stability138th of 150 published cities38
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 7.7% and the Opportunity signal places Brownsville in the bottom 5%.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 21% of median household income.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, cold wave and hail.

At a glance

Population
189,177
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,130
Bottom 26% nationally
Density
1,418/sq mi
133.4 sq mi of land
Median age
31.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Cameron County
Texas
Metro area
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX
Nearest major airport
HRL
20 mi · Valley Intl
Median home value
$139,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 7.7% is lower than 1% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 79,175 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,503$52,130Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$785$22,512Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate23.7%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.1 minBottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher24.5%Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment79,175Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.3%Top 47%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.8%Top 45%June 2026
Labor force85,822Bottom 2%June 2026
Labor force participation59.4%Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$47,110Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$36,490Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-1.5%Bottom 2%June 2026
Unemployment rate7.7%Top 1%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/069.25.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 7.7% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202452k43k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $52,130 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Brownsville-Harlingen, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides21,990$23,500
Fast Food and Counter Workers6,570$22,500
Customer Service Representatives4,880$38,350
Retail Salespersons3,820$27,780
General and Operations Managers3,440$75,350
Cashiers3,420$26,250

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $923 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.7 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
21.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$923
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$139,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.68Bottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate61.7%Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±84064,878Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$30$923Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,107$139,900Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.2%Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.8%Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
66/ 100
Top 18% of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 191,967 in 2024.

At 7.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,352
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.2
Top 19% nationally
Year over year
−2%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
45.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024192k187k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
202020222023202420251k706
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+42%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 95°F and January a low of 53°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 26.8 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BROWNSVILLE, 5.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation26.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low53°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high95°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing24°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

21 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and hail.

Cold waveModerate
HurricaneElevated
HailModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, ice storm, inland flooding, strong wind, winter weather, tornado, wildfire, drought, coastal flooding, earthquake, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 20 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Valley IntlHRL20 mi9,400 ft
Laredo IntlLRD164 mi8,743 ft
Victoria RgnlVCT200 mi9,111 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Brownsville

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7852187,380$44,50951
7852064,740$50,11653
7852660,012$70,56557
7856625,110$60,18755
7857810,016$51,88052