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Place dossier plate
SheetIN-BROWNSTOWN-IN · Brownstown, IN 3,020 pop · income 39th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Brownstown
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Brownstown on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Vivian · lowest
22,675
Vivian · lowest
22,675 median HH income
9.1% of the leader · rank #1
Brownstown · this city
62,222
Brownstown · this city
62,222 median HH income
24.9% of the leader · rank #2
Camak · near
62,222
Camak · near
62,222 median HH income
24.9% of the leader · rank #3
Fairmount · near
62,222
Fairmount · near
62,222 median HH income
24.9% of the leader · rank #4
Sebree · near
62,222
Sebree · near
62,222 median HH income
24.9% of the leader · rank #5
Busby · near
62,222
Busby · near
62,222 median HH income
24.9% of the leader · rank #6
Greens Farms · highest
250,001
Greens Farms · highest
250,001 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Brownstown on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 3,020.
Nationally, Brownstown sits in the 39th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
39th
percentile, household income
23rd
percentile, home value
27th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Brownstown, IN
Indiana's Brownstown is a small town, with 3,020 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Brownstown households earn a median of $62,222 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.2%. Brownstown's housing stock carries a median value of $138,100, and the median resident age is 40.8 years. Educational attainment runs 17.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 52.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 53 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 2550% from five years earlier.
Living costs in Indiana run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Indiana at 93.3 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,096 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Indiana run around $235, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 45.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Brownstown's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Brownstown, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Brownstown?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Brownstown?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Indiana, the closest population matches are New Palestine (3,027 residents, $93,170 income); Shorewood Forest (3,030 residents, $151,382 income); Albany (2,984 residents, $56,356 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Harbor Bluffs, FL (3,020 residents); Vivian, LA (3,020 residents); Minden, NE (3,020 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Is Brownstown growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +133 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 53 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
What does the education layer cover for Brownstown?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 17.6% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Brownstown?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 83.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
83.7%
Work from home
1.3%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,136 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 7.2% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Indiana average
D
City profile score · Brownstown, IN
48/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living B
93.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate C-
7.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$62,222
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Brownstown profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 72/100 (B) · 93.3 index
Poverty rate: 51/100 (C-) · 7.2%
Household income: 38/100 (F) · $62,222
Bachelor's+ share: 27/100 (F) · 17.6%
How does Brownstown compare to other US cities?
Here's how Brownstown stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income39% higher than other cities
Home value23% pricier than other cities
Median rent27% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Brownstown against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Indiana only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Indiana-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Brownstown near the bottom of Indiana's cities
Among the 850 Indiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Brownstown ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Brownstown only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#379 of 766
51st percentile in Indiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 850
0th percentile in Indiana
Median Home Value
#353 of 771
54th percentile in Indiana
Poverty Rate
#410 of 849
51st percentile in Indiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#341 of 850
59th percentile in Indiana
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Indiana only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
39th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Brownstown's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$138,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 77% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. 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 U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Brownstown's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,565 of 15,516
More affordable than 83% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,398 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.2×, Brownstown sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,565 of 15,516 and #2,398 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$62,222Brownstown, IN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Brownstown, IN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Brownstown, IN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,020
Median Income
$62,222
Median Home Value
$138,100
Median Age
40.8
Poverty Rate
7.2%
Labor force participation
52.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.6%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Brownstown's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,021 residents
2021
2,992 residents
2022
2,997 residents
2023
3,024 residents
2024
3,068 residents
2025
3,154 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
53
housing units authorized
Single-Family
53
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
17.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2022
2
0
2
$0.3M
2023
2
2
0
$0.4M
2024
53
53
0
$15.5M
Permit volume increased 2550% from 2022 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.7%
Carpool
14.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.6%
Work from Home
1.3%
Based on 1,136 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Indiana statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $235
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Indiana at $235 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Indiana statewide averages, not a meter reading for Brownstown. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Indiana's BEA cost-of-living index is 93.3 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Brownstown is $1,096/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Indiana statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 45.5 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Indiana statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Brownstown sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Brownstown compares to similar-size Indiana cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.