Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Brooksville gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $306K, 4.1 years of the Tampa metro’s $74K median household income. It grades C− overall, 498th of 634 graded towns in Florida. The low prices come with trade-offs. It reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, including 63 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and the median household income is $55K, and 20% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Brooksville’s violent crime rate is 6.1 per 1,000 residents, above both the Florida town median (2.1) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6). On history, just 25 of Florida’s 779 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Bud Mckethan Park, at 35 acres.
Where Brooksville beats most towns.
May-Stringer House7,719 counted in 2010 and 8,890 in 2020; an estimated 10,145 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 14.5% since 2020, after 15.2% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Brooksville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 512 in 1890, 8,890 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 3 maps from 1954 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Brooksville, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Brooksville.
Brooksville trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and draws workers from Spring Hill and beyond, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Florida rate.
10,157 jobs are based in Brooksville, 3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Brooksville for work: only 15% work in town. The average trip to work in Brooksville is 35 minutes. Since 2013, Brooksville has added 1,152 jobs, to 10,157 in 2023.
| Brooksville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 5% | 8% |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Hernando school district. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Hernando High School, with 1,299 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooksville Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 687 | C+ |
| Hernando High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 1,299 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 6.1 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Florida rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D. Reported crimes fell from 368 to 237 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Brooksville’s property crime rate is 16.9 per 1,000 residents. Brooksville reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 7,395 U.S. towns with household incomes like Brooksville’s, it is less healthy than 66%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Brooksville beats the Florida average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 12% of adults binge drink in Brooksville.
| Brooksville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Brooksville | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.7% | 14.6% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81.8% | 78.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 11% | 7.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3.9 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.
| Brooksville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bud Mckethan Park | — | 35 |
| 2. Russell Street Park | — | 13 |
| 3. Hernando Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Brooksville Chin Hill weather station, 7 miles away, records that about 89 days a year reach 90°, more than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 46.7°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 90.7°.
Brooksville has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Brooksville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 91°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes are within reach (about $306K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 34 miles.
The typical Brooksville home is worth about $306,000, down 1.6% in a year, 19% below the Florida typical home. 63% of Brooksville households own their home.
| Brooksville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,137 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 62 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Brooksville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Brooksville. Close and well known come first.
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaRaymond James Stadium
40 mi Stadium & arenaBenchmark International Arena
33 mi Theme parkBusch Gardens Tampa4.0M visitors a year
10 mi State parkWeeki Wachee Springs
32 mi Stadium & arenaYuengling Center35 mi Zoo & aquariumZooTampaRaymond James Stadium: NASA, Public domain · Benchmark International Arena: Miosotis Jade, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Busch Gardens Tampa: Wolle8ball, CC BY 3.0 · Weeki Wachee Springs: Leonard J. DeFrancisci, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Yuengling Center: User:TheCustomOfLife, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of Brooksville
About 7 of every 100 Brooksville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
Where Brooksville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Brooksville on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Brooksville.
City in Florida, United States
Brooksville is a city in and the county seat of Hernando County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, Brooksville had a population of 8,890. Brooksville is home to historic buildings and residences, including the homes of former Florida governor William Sherman Jennings and football player Jerome Brown. Brooksville, established in 1856 by the merger of the towns of Melendez and Pierceville, took its name to honor Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery congressman from South Carolina, who caned and seriously injured Charles Sumner, an abolitionist and United States senator from Massachusetts.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Brooksville.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooksville | #498 | C− | B | D | B− | C− |
| South Brooksville | #444 | C− | B− | — | B− | C |
| North Brooksville | #353 | C | A− | — | B− | D |
South Brooksville and North Brooksville report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Brooksville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Brooksville grades C− overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #498 of 634 in Florida. It grades C− for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
13 notable people were born here, including Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas.
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