Fort Brown · Photo: Pi3.124 · CC BY-SA 3.0Brownsville sees more violent crime per resident than four in five U.S. towns
Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records more crime per resident. On crimes Brownsville’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #369 of 471 graded towns in Texas, and #140 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. For every 1,000 residents, 4.2 violent crimes and 18.3 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the rest of Texas, the figures are 4.3 and 23.6. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 21% from 2023 to 2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of TX” is every other Texas city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Brownsville
Brownsville reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 5 Texas towns on Brownsville’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: San Benito (C−), Port Isabel (C−), Los Fresnos (D). Encantada-Ranchito-El Calaboz and South Point are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Brownsville’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 2.4 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Texas (6.0) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Texas
58.4 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (109 reported in 2025), below the rest of Texas (75.3) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Brownsville reports less crime per resident than 57% (#140). Places like it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Brownsville’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Brownsville property | Rest of Texas property | Brownsville violent | Rest of Texas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.4 | 27.4 | 4.3 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 20.3 | 26.4 | 3.9 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 19.4 | 23.9 | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| 2025 | 15.2 | 20.6 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Texas.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Brownsville | Rest of Texas | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.1 | 8.0 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 4.2 | 7.0 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 2.1 | 6.0 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Brownsville | Rest of Texas | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 67.2 | 89.6 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 58.2 | 84.7 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 60.7 | 78.5 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 56.4 | 63.1 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Brownsville’s police reported 2 homicides, 109 robberies and 779 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Texas and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Crime in Brownsville per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
3,709 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
779 violent and 2,930 property, as reported to the FBI by Brownsville’s police.
57 people died in crashes on Brownsville’s roads in 2019–2023
Brownsville had 48 fatal crashes in five years, in which 57 people died; 23 were pedestrians and 4 were cyclists. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Texas towns of 100,000+ people (8.4, 43 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Brownsville and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville | C− | 4.2 | 18.3 |
| Encantada-Ranchito-El Calaboz | — | — | — |
| Port Isabel | C− | 3.0 | 29.2 |
| Los Fresnos | D | 7.6 | 14.9 |
| San Benito | C− | 2.6 | 28.6 |
| South Point | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Encantada-Ranchito-El Calaboz and South Point are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Texas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville | C− | 4.2 | 18.3 |
| McKinney | B+ | 1.1 | 7.9 |
| Grand Prairie | C+ | 2.0 | 15.1 |
| Denton | C | 2.2 | 18.8 |
| Killeen | C− | 5.0 | 15.8 |
| Amarillo | D | 6.5 | 27.1 |
The five graded Texas towns closest to Brownsville’s population (192,957), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Brownsville. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Brownsville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (193,321 in 2025); our figure for Brownsville is 192,957 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Brownsville
Is Brownsville, TX safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Brownsville reports more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #369 of 471 in Texas. Its police reported 4.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Texas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Brownsville?
4.2 violent and 18.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Texas reports 4.3 and 23.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Brownsville in 2025?
Brownsville’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 1.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Brownsville safer than Port Isabel?
Port Isabel reports more crime per resident than Brownsville: Port Isabel grades C− for safety and Brownsville C−. Port Isabel’s police reported 3.0 violent and 29.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Brownsville?
Brownsville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Brownsville”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Brownsville.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.