78521 — Brownsville, Texas
Area Profile
Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 78521. Its median home value runs 29% below Brownsville as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 15 sourcesEmployment conditions sit below most comparable ZIP areas measured: unemployment is 7.4% and the Opportunity signal places 78521 in the bottom 5%. The unemployment rate is published for Brownsville, TX, which contains 78521, rather than for 78521 alone.
In the public schools here, 60% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.3 students for every teacher.
1,352 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 2% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Brownsville, TX, which contains 78521, rather than for 78521 alone.
These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across Brownsville, TX, which contains 78521, is 7.4% — higher than in all but 2% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.
Employment across Brownsville, TX, which contains 78521, fell 0.9% over the past year, to 79,556 employed residents.
Median household income of $44,509 is lower than in 91% of measured US ZIP areas.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsCameron County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $62,859 | 39th percentileof 2,996 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftCameron County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $53,142 | 15th percentileof 2,996 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$2,7412024 ACS 5-Year | $44,509 | Bottom 9%of 31,049 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$8972024 ACS 5-Year | $19,594 | Bottom 5%of 32,822 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 29.9% | Bottom 7%of 32,846 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 24.0 min | Top 30%of 32,887 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 16.7% | Bottom 30%of 33,193 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 73.7% | 42nd percentileof 32,798 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentBrownsville, TX’s figureJuly 2026 | 79,556 | Top 35%of 3,127 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)Brownsville, TX’s figureJuly 2026 | +0.7% | Top 38%of 3,127 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)Brownsville, TX’s figureJuly 2026 | −0.9% | Bottom 46%of 3,127 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceBrownsville, TX’s figureJuly 2026 | 85,905 | 65th percentileof 3,127 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 74.5% | Bottom 36%of 32,883 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wageBrownsville-Harlingen, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $47,110 | Bottom 1%of 2,760 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wageBrownsville-Harlingen, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $36,490 | Bottom 1%of 2,760 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.2% | 81st percentileof 32,798 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)Brownsville, TX’s figureJuly 2026 | −1.7% | Top 2%of 3,127 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateBrownsville, TX’s figureJuly 2026 | 7.4% | Bottom 2%of 3,127 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.3% | 42nd percentileof 32,798 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Brownsville-Harlingen, TX
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 21,990 | $23,500 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 6,570 | $22,500 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 4,880 | $38,350 |
| Retail Salespersons | 3,820 | $27,780 |
| General and Operations Managers | 3,440 | $75,350 |
| Cashiers | 3,420 | $26,250 |
Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.
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.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Brownsville, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.
60% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 47% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 15.3 students for every full-time teacher across 37 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivera Early College H S | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 2,150 | 15.8 | 64% | 41% |
| Hanna Early College H S | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 2,039 | 15.0 | 74% | 54% |
| Lopez Early College H S | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 1,739 | 13.9 | 73% | 45% |
| Porter Early College H S | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 1,543 | 13.9 | 74% | 38% |
| Stillman Middle | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 964 | 14.6 | 62% | 54% |
| Faulk Middle | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 885 | 14.5 | 53% | 38% |
| Garcia Middle | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 870 | 15.0 | 42% | 41% |
| Manzano Middle | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 837 | 14.2 | 58% | 49% |
| Cromack - Castaneda El | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 823 | 16.1 | 57% | 45% |
| Paredes El | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 798 | 16.6 | 76% | 69% |
| Idea Frontier College Preparatory · charter | IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS | 781 | 15.6 | 64% | 63% |
| Hudson El | BROWNSVILLE ISD | 751 | 16.7 | 62% | 60% |
91.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Texas’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 14% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 85.7, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Brownsville-Harlingen, TX Metro Area is up 48% over five years, and up 4.4% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.
Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,545 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.55% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,047, some 18% above the $889 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,047 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,900 a year, about 94% of the median household income here of $44,509.
The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $889 a month.
A median home at $99,700 costs 1.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $53,349, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
Prices here run about 14% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Brownsville-Harlingen, TX Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.
The figures above are measured against 78521’s median household income of $44,509, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Brownsville-Harlingen, TX Metro Area’s figure2023 | 85.7 | Top 1%of 2,737 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Brownsville-Harlingen, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +4.4% | 73rd percentileof 3,071 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Brownsville-Harlingen, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +47.7% | 67th percentileof 3,071 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Brownsville-Harlingen, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +92.9% | 47th percentileof 3,071 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year | 1.9 | Top 18%of 29,275 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 60.3% | 16th percentileof 32,750 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±8752024 ACS 5-Year | 29,741 | 99th percentileof 33,460 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $866 | Top 15%of 3,031 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,414 | Top 17%of 3,031 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,047 | Top 13%of 3,031 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$262024 ACS 5-Year | $889 | Top 36%of 26,396 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$6,6762024 ACS 5-Year | $99,700 | 10th percentileof 30,812 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1362024 ACS 5-Year | $1,545 | 38th percentileof 28,935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$4,7812024 ACS 5-Year | $53,349 | Bottom 10%of 29,802 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.17%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.55% | 84th percentileof 24,099 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 29.4% | Bottom 43%of 26,247 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±1612024 ACS 5-Year | 344 | 91st percentileof 33,772 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.2% | 51st percentileof 32,961 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 5.6% | 41st percentileof 32,788 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±3172024 ACS 5-Year | 2,010 | 96th percentileof 33,772 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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.
At 7.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Brownsville, TX, which contains 78521, rather than for 78521 alone.
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Hidalgo County, TX 1,785 people · 19% of arrivals
- Harris County, TX 706 people · 7.7% of arrivals
- Bexar County, TX 592 people · 6.4% of arrivals
- Willacy County, TX 246 people · 2.7% of arrivals
- Travis County, TX 242 people · 2.6% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Hidalgo County, TX 2,025 people · 19% of departures
- Bexar County, TX 1,120 people · 10% of departures
- Harris County, TX 805 people · 7.5% of departures
- Travis County, TX 327 people · 3.1% of departures
- Nueces County, TX 260 people · 2.4% of departures
Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Cameron County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Brownsville, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.
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.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| 90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year | 124 | 2024 calendar year |
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 26.8" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals | 0.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 53°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 95°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year | 61 | 2024 calendar year |
| Median air quality index2024 calendar year | 61 | 2024 calendar year |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 24°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Air quality
A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and inland flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 51% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.
Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, ice storm, inland flooding, strong wind, winter weather, tornado, wildfire, drought, coastal flooding, earthquake, landslide, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.
Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 78521 (Cameron County) rather than 78521 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.
What this profile does not cover
Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Brownsville carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Taxes
- Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.
Access
1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Valley Intl at 29 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 82.8% | Bottom 24%of 32,663 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 29 mi | Bottom 31%of 3,127 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 1 | Bottom 1%of 3,127 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 12.5% | Bottom 28%of 32,663 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Intl | HRL | 29 mi | 9,400 ft |
| Laredo Intl | LRD | 172 mi | 8,743 ft |
| Victoria Rgnl | VCT | 203 mi | 9,111 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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Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyData & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Climate | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System Daily Air Quality Index by county | 2024 calendar year |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA National Weather Service National Weather Service current conditions | Live observation, read when the page opens |
Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.
78521 vs Brownsville
How this ZIP area compares with Brownsville as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.
Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.