Brownsville, TX (78526)

Brownsville, TX (ZIP 78526) sits in Cameron County within the Brownsville-Harlingen metro area. The page draws on 2 federal data feeds retrieved Apr 24. Top health signal: Health Insurance comes in above the national average at 31.4%. NCES lists 11 schools serving the area, 11 non-charter. 10 colleges and universities serve the area, with median in-state tuition of $4,920. 30% of returns claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (IRS), a higher share than most ZIPs. Local establishments report average pay of $34,406 per worker (Census ZBP) — below the US average. BLS QCEW reports average annual pay of $44,590 per worker, roughly 32% below the US average. FEMA has issued 34 federal disaster declarations affecting this ZIP since 1967 — a high-frequency exposure profile. 25.2% of residents under 65 lack health insurance per the 2025 County Health Rankings — a notable access gap. 32.2% of residents in this county are flagged low-access by USDA's 2025 Food Environment Atlas — a notable supermarket-access gap. IRS migration data (2022-2023) shows a net loss of 1,622 residents (1,332 households) — the ZIP's primary county is shrinking. Schools are the headline here — lots of options at varying types — while healthcare access numbers suggest worth-shopping coverage and provider choice carefully. Notable: median household income $66,339, fair market rent of $1,240 for a two-bedroom, and a typical home value of $233,093, up 2.5% over the past year. Every figure on this page links to its underlying federal dataset with a retrieval date so you can audit the freshness yourself.

Demographics

HUD Fair Market Rents represent the 40th percentile of standard-quality rental housing in this area. FY2026 data.

Home values

Source: Zillow Research, ZHVI All Homes (SFR, Condo/Co-op) Time Series (zillow.com/research/data). Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) is copyrighted by Zillow, Inc.

New housing construction

Based on county-level data (2024).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (census.gov/construction/bps). Public domain. BPS reports annual residential building permits from local permit-issuing jurisdictions, aggregated to county. A permit reflects intent to build, not a completed unit — actual construction lags by 6-24 months for multifamily projects.

Income & tax statistics

Source: IRS Statistics of Income — Individual Income Tax Statistics by ZIP Code (irs.gov). Public domain. Dollar columns reported in thousands by the IRS; figures here display real dollars. Total ZCTA AGI for the area was $1371.8M across all reported brackets.

Business & employment

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Business Patterns (census.gov). Public domain. ZBP covers establishments with paid employees; Census suppresses employment and payroll values when fewer employers operate in a ZIP than would protect their confidentiality.

Employment & wages

That is roughly 32% below the US national average of $65,470 per worker.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (bls.gov/cew). Public domain. QCEW is derived from state unemployment-insurance filings and covers ~95% of US jobs. Figures are county-level totals assigned to ZIPs whose primary county matches; small-employer cells are suppressed by BLS to protect employer confidentiality.

Unemployment

Based on Cameron County, TX data (2024).

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (bls.gov/lau). Public domain. LAUS publishes monthly and annual labor-force estimates for every US county. Figures are county-level totals assigned to ZIPs whose primary county matches.

Banking access

Based on FDIC-insured branch offices as of June 30, 2024.

Source: FDIC Summary of Deposits (fdic.gov). Annual June-30 snapshot of every FDIC-insured branch and the deposits booked there. Figures cover all institutions reporting a branch address in this ZIP.

Community health centers

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Look-Alike sites provide primary care on a sliding-fee scale, regardless of ability to pay. Active sites only; data refreshed 2026.

Source: HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care (data.hrsa.gov). Per-ZIP counts of active service-delivery sites operated by Health Center Program grantees and Look-Alike organizations.

Alternative-fuel stations

Active public stations only. Snapshot taken 2026; AFDC's underlying registry refreshes continuously as stations open and close.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy via NREL (afdc.energy.gov). Per-ZIP counts of active public alternative-fuel stations (electric, hydrogen, propane, CNG, biodiesel, E85, LNG, renewable diesel) and EV charging-port totals.

Social Vulnerability Index

The Social Vulnerability Index uses U.S. Census data to identify communities most at risk during public health emergencies and natural disasters. Higher percentiles indicate greater vulnerability. Tract-level scores are aggregated to this ZCTA via Census 2020 ZCTA→Tract crosswalk, weighted by land-area share. Source: atsdr.cdc.gov. Public domain.

Federal Disaster Declarations

FEMA declares disasters at the county level; counts here include every federally declared disaster touching any county that overlaps this ZIP. Statewide declarations and pre-1964 records without county granularity are excluded. Program flags reflect which FEMA assistance categories were activated (Individual Assistance, Households, Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation). Source: fema.gov/openfema. Public domain.

Air quality

Based on Cameron County data (2024).

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System (epa.gov). Public domain. Only counties with EPA AQS monitoring stations appear here (~30% of US counties); rural ZIPs whose primary county has no monitor will not show this section.

Community health profile

Low birth weight (under 2,500 g) accounts for 8.7% of live births in this county — an early-life health input that downstream outcomes track against.

Based on Cameron data (2025 CHR release).

Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (countyhealthrankings.org). Annual release. Underlying source datasets vary by measure (CDC BRFSS, NCHS Vital Statistics, AHA, USDA Food Environment Atlas, and others). Figures are county-level and assigned to every ZIP whose primary county matches.

Food access

Among low-income residents, 17.9% are low-access — those without a supermarket within 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural).

Per-1,000 figures show how many of each store type exist in Cameron County, TX for every 1,000 residents. Higher grocery and supercenter density usually means easier access to fresh food; higher convenience-store-only density (with low grocery rate) often signals a food swamp.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Environment Atlas (ers.usda.gov). County-level metrics fanned to ZIP via the primary county in the Census ZCTA-county relationship file. Variable years differ per family (stores ~2020, low-access ~2019).

Who’s moving in and out

Incoming households reported an average AGI of $66,880 versus departing households' $55,104.

Source: U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income, Migration Data (irs.gov). Public domain. Migration is measured by year-over-year changes in the address on individual tax returns; figures are county-level totals attributed to ZIPs whose primary county matches. Foreign migration contributes to inflow/outflow totals but does not appear in the top-county lists. Small flows are suppressed by IRS to protect taxpayer confidentiality.

Data sources used on this page

Health profile

Crude prevalence estimates from CDC PLACES, derived from BRFSS small-area modeling. Population-level figures only.

Schools in this ZIP

11 schools serve this ZIP, including 11 non-charter.

Showing top 5 by enrollment. 6 more schools serve this ZIP.

Schools listed from NCES Common Core of Data via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal.

Colleges & universities nearby

• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  Edinburg, TX · 78539

  4-Year

  In-state tuition

  $9,987

  Out-of-state tuition

  $19,827

  Acceptance rate

  94.2%

  Graduation rate

  50.1%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $49,620

  Median student debt

  $12,950

• South Texas College

  McAllen, TX · 78501

  4-Year

  In-state tuition

  $4,920

  Out-of-state tuition

  $7,620

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  27.4%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $36,788

  Median student debt

  —

• Texas Southmost College

  Brownsville, TX · 78520

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  $3,148

  Out-of-state tuition

  $4,948

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  28.2%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $41,900

  Median student debt

  $9,000

• Rio Grande Valley College

  Pharr, TX · 78577

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  73.4%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  —

  Median student debt

  $12,359

• The College of Health Care Professions-McAllen Campus

  McAllen, TX · 78504

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  73.1%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $33,070

  Median student debt

  $9,500

• Southern Careers Institute-Brownsville

  Brownsville, TX · 78520

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  69.5%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $27,035

  Median student debt

  $8,708

• Southern Careers Institute-Pharr

  Pharr, TX · 78577

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  57.8%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $27,035

  Median student debt

  $8,708

• Miller-Motte College-STVT-McAllen

  McAllen, TX · 78503

  Certificate

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  80.5%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $31,102

  Median student debt

  $15,917

• Southern Careers Institute-Harlingen

  Harlingen, TX · 78550

  2-Year

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  60.1%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $27,035

  Median student debt

  $8,708

• South Texas Vocational Technical Institute-Weslaco

  Weslaco, TX · 78599

  Certificate

  In-state tuition

  —

  Out-of-state tuition

  —

  Acceptance rate

  —

  Graduation rate

  79.2%

  Median earnings (10 yr)

  $31,102

  Median student debt

  $15,917

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (collegescorecard.ed.gov). Public domain data. Earnings figures reflect median earnings 10 years after entry for federally-aided students.

What these numbers say together

Frequently Asked Questions — ZIP 78526

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