Living here
Cost of living in Brownsville
Housing is cheaper than the US average. Rents, home prices, taxes and how far a paycheck goes.
Median rent
$906/mo
33% below US
Median home value
$122,400
60% below US
Median household income
$48,675
38% below US
Rent as share of income
22%
US 21%
Home price to income
2.5×
US 3.9×
Sales tax
8.25%
Rent by number of bedrooms
HUD 2027 fair market rents for Brownsville-Harlingen, TX MSA (gross rent including utilities, near the 40th percentile of local rents). Source: HUD USER.
How Brownsville compares
- Brownsville$906
- Texas$1,339
- United States$1,348
- McAllen$1,017
- New Braunfels$1,536
- Sugar Land$1,939
- Pearland$1,759
- Galveston$1,278
- Austin$1,655
- Cedar Park$1,753
- Georgetown$1,671
- Brownsville$122,400
- Texas$260,400
- United States$303,400
- McAllen$173,800
- New Braunfels$315,100
- Sugar Land$406,600
- Pearland$330,900
- Galveston$294,300
- Austin$512,700
- Cedar Park$474,800
- Georgetown$398,600
Taxes
Compare with nearby cities
Life in Brownsville
Questions
Is Brownsville expensive to live in?
Housing in Brownsville is cheaper than the national average: median rent is $906 (33% below US) and the median home value is $122,400 (60% below US).
How much is rent in Brownsville?
The median gross rent is $906 a month. HUD’s 2027 fair market rents for the area are studio $827, 1 bedroom $884, 2 bedrooms $1,042, 3 bedrooms $1,393, 4 bedrooms $1,496.
How much of their income do renters spend in Brownsville?
At the median, a year’s rent ($10,872) equals about 22% of the median household income ($48,675); nationally it’s about 21%.
What are taxes like in Brownsville?
Sales tax is 8.25% and property taxes run about 1.82% of home value a year.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates; HUD fair market rents; Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts - City Sales and Use Tax rates (city-rates.xlsx, updated Oct 6, 2026; cross-checked with EDI current rate file taxrates.txt, 2026 Q4).