Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 16,936: a town in Florida.
A town with more to fix than most. Brownsville’s overall C− puts it 459th of 634 in Florida. That leaves it better than 19% of U.S. towns. Where it falls short is health — CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 94% of the country. Incomes are weaker too: the median household income is $41K, and just over a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+). At about $430K, a typical home costs 5.6 years of the Miami metro’s $77K median household income. Only 24 of Florida’s 779 towns score higher on history.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Brownsville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Brownsville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Brownsville is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for health (better than 6%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 23,442 in 1970, 16,583 in 2020. The archive holds 4 maps from 1950 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Brownsville. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaHard Rock Stadium
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaNu Stadium
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaKaseya Center
3 mi Stadium & arenaLoanDepot Park
17 mi National ParkEverglades National Park778K visitors a year
6 mi MuseumVizcaya Museum and GardensHard Rock Stadium: elisfkc2, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Nu Stadium: Cuban Boy, CC0 · Kaseya Center: jjron, GFDL 1.2 · LoanDepot Park: Roberto Coquis, CC BY 2.0 · Everglades National Park: Everglades NPS from Homestead, Florida, United States, Public domain · Vizcaya Museum and Gardens: Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0
Brownsville is unincorporated, so Miami-Dade County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Brownsville.
Brownsville is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has poverty well above the Florida rate.
Against the 2,604 U.S. towns with household incomes like Brownsville’s, it is less healthy than 67%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
The share of adults in Brownsville who report frequent mental distress is 19%, above both Florida’s towns (16%) and U.S. towns (17%). Among 636 Florida towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who have diabetes than Brownsville. Just over a third of adults say their health is fair or poor in the town. Against the Florida average, Brownsville comes out ahead on 2 CDC measures out of 31, and behind on 23.
| Brownsville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 20% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 25% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 37% | 36% |
| What stands out | Brownsville | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5% | 9.1% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12.1% | 14.6% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 41.5% | 16.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
One of its 8 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Its public schools are run by the Miami-Dade school district. Public school enrollment in Brownsville: 1,629 students across 5 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 477 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Among working residents in Brownsville, 2% work locally. The share of residents in Brownsville who live below the poverty line is 26%, where Florida’s towns sit at 11% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. The town’s mean commuting time comes in at 31 minutes. Since 2013, Brownsville has added 882 jobs, to 4,881 in 2023.
| Brownsville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 26% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $41,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 6.5% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 60.2°, milder than in 100% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 89.9°.
Brownsville’s peak summer temperature stands at 90°F. Snow is a rarity.
| Brownsville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 60°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Home values rose 44% in five years, to about $431K, against 19% across Florida.
Homes sold in Brownsville spent a median 48 days on the market. Zillow values the typical Brownsville home at about $431,000, up 1.3% in a year, 15% above the Florida typical home. In Brownsville, the typical rent is $1,252 a month.
| Brownsville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 36% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,252 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Paid flood insurance claims in Brownsville since 1979: 35. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 60% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 52% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to hurricanes, and 33% to inland flooding. One declared disaster, in 2017, has brought federal aid to Brownsville households.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Count the trails in 7 parks and preserves and they come to 0.8 miles. The concentration of trails for Brownsville comes to 0.4 miles per square mile.
| Brownsville | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.1% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Martin Luther King Park | 0.6 mi | 9 |
| 2. Joseph Caleb Community Center | — | 8 |
| 3. Olinda Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
28 within 15 miles of the center of Brownsville
About 5 of every 100 Brownsville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Florida.
Census-designated place in Florida, United States
Brownsville (also known as Brown Sub) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) that is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. As of the 2020 US census, the population was 16,583, up from 15,313 in 2010. After three decades of population loss, Brownsville gained population for the first time in over 40 years in the 2010 US Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Brownsville.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville | #459 | C− | C− | — | B+ | D |
| Hialeah | #406 | C | D | C+ | B+ | C+ |
| Miami | #493 | C− | D− | D | B+ | C+ |
| Gladeview | #488 | C− | C− | — | B+ | D |
Brownsville and Gladeview report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Brownsville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Brownsville grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #459 of 634 in Florida. It grades D for health and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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