PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Brownsville-Harlingen, TX

50.7
Life Score / 100
B-
Grade (curved)
#184
of 387 metros
52%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Brownsville ranks #184 of 387 US metros, ahead of 52% - carried by its cost of living (94/100) and held back most by wages (4/100).

94
strongest: Cost of Living
88
then: Rent
4
weakest: Wages
7
weighted dimensions

Where Brownsville sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

51 52th percentile higher than 52% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Below this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). This entry sits in this band. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Above this entry. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Brownsville Life Score

Brownsville's composite score of 50.7 out of 100, a grade of B-, places the metro at rank #184 of 387, ahead of 52% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Cost of Living (94/100) and Rent (88/100), which pull the composite upward, while Wages (4/100) and Environment (12/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 86.0 (rent-RPP 57.7). BLS median salary $55,295, 149,790 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Customer Service Representatives). HUD 2BR FMR $1,047/mo (studio $773).

FBI UCR (TX): 395 violent, 2058 property/100K. NCES: 14.7:1 ratio, 11.4% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,566/yr. EPA: 70 Superfund sites (TX). Ranks #181-#187 below.

Dimension detail

How Brownsville scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 94/100 (20%)
Wages 4/100 (20%)
Rent 88/100 (15%)
Safety 35/100 (15%)
Schools 36/100 (10%)
Childcare 78/100 (10%)
Environment 12/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

86.0
Cost Index (RPP)
$55,295
Avg Median Salary
$1,047
2BR Fair Market Rent
395
Violent Crime/100K (TX)
14.7:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$7,566
Infant Childcare/yr (TX)
70
Superfund Sites (TX)
149,790
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Brownsville With...

Brownsville vs Texarkana Compare → Brownsville vs Waco Compare → Brownsville vs San Antonio Compare → Brownsville vs Wildwood Compare → Brownsville vs Waterloo Compare → Brownsville vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Brownsville outranks 52% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#181 Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA 50.8 B-
#182 Laredo, TX 50.8 B-
#183 Homosassa Springs, FL 51.0 B-
#184 Brownsville-Harlingen, TX 50.7 B-
#185 Logan, UT-ID 50.7 B-
#186 Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI 50.7 B-
#187 Enid, OK * 50.3 B-

TX Metro Scores

Texarkana, TX-AR A- 60.7 Waco, TX B+ 58.2 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX B+ 57.6 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX B 55.0 Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX B 54.9 Wichita Falls, TX B 53.9

Using Brownsville's Life Score

Brownsville is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is cost of living (94/100) and its weakest is wages (4/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Brownsville head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Brownsville lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Brownsville's biggest strengths? ▼
Brownsville's strongest dimensions are Cost of Living (94/100), Rent (88/100), Childcare (78/100). Cost of Living is top-tier nationally.
What are Brownsville's weakest areas? ▼
Brownsville's lowest-scoring dimensions are Wages (4/100), Environment (12/100), Safety (35/100). Wages weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Brownsville compared to the national average? ▼
Brownsville's Regional Price Parity is 86.0 (14.0% less than national); rent RPP 57.7.
What is the average salary in Brownsville? ▼
Brownsville median salary: $55,295, 149,790 jobs. Top: Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Customer Service Representatives.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Brownsville's 50.7/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.