Moving to
Brownsville.

All Brownsville data Compare Brownsville

16,936people live here $40,795median household income▼ 49% below US $1,252median rent per month▼ 11% below US $325,200median home valueNear US average

Brownsville is an unincorporated community in Miami-Dade County, FL. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Brownsville

Brownsville is an unincorporated community in Florida with rent below the national average, county unemployment below the national average, schools with class sizes near the national average, and public transit that many commuters actually use. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Brownsville deals with household incomes below the national average, commute times longer than most cities, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and college degree attainment below the national average.

The good

Rent below the national average
Low unemployment in the county
Average class sizes
Public transit that many commuters use

The not so good

Below-average household incomes
Above-average commute times
Air quality concerns
Low college degree attainment
Shrinking population
High poverty rate

How Brownsville compares

Median household income

Brownsville$40,795

Florida avg$74,568

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Brownsville$1,252

Florida avg$1,669

US$1,413

Median home value

Brownsville$325,200

Florida avg$359,000

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Brownsville

Based on Brownsville's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$2,504

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $50,080 a year
63% of Brownsville renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$65,040

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $32,520
Homes cost 8.0× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▼ 11% below US

$1,252/mo median rent

Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,252 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall. Home prices are reasonable, with a median around $325,200. Not a steal, but not intimidating either.

Median home value $325,200 · 63% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

2.7% county unemployment

Unemployment in Miami-Dade County is 2.7%, well below the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Miami-Dade County (county-wide)

Safety

336 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Brownsville doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Miami-Dade County Police Department jurisdiction as a whole, which runs close to the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1810/100k · Policed by Miami-Dade County Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 18% above US

31 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 30.6 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 11% take public transit; 7% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

72%

Public transit

11%

Carpool

6.9%

Work from home

6.5%

Other

3.7%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 89°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 61°F. It's a wet climate overall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 62% below US

14% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.

Schools

6 public schools inside the boundary

There are 6 public schools inside the boundary and 3 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 17:1, close to the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Biscayne National Park (23 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Brownsville's strongest points are rent below the national average and county unemployment below the national average; the main tradeoffs are household incomes below the national average and commute times longer than most cities. A year of median rent ($1,252/mo) equals 37% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget, job seekers (county-wide unemployment is low), and people who would rather not drive.

See all the data for Brownsville →·All Florida cities →