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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-BREWSTER-WA · Brewster, WA 1,737 pop · income 24th 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 Brewster
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Brewster on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Freeport · lowest
45,464
Freeport · lowest
45,464 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #1
Webberville · near
52,879
Webberville · near
52,879 median HH income
29.7% of the leader · rank #2
Derma · near
52,879
Derma · near
52,879 median HH income
29.7% of the leader · rank #3
Monroe City · near
52,883
Monroe City · near
52,883 median HH income
29.7% of the leader · rank #4
Brewster · this city
52,885
Brewster · this city
52,885 median HH income
29.7% of the leader · rank #5
Ewing · near
52,885
Ewing · near
52,885 median HH income
29.7% of the leader · rank #6
Toro Canyon · highest
177,879
Toro Canyon · highest
177,879 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 Brewster 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: 1,737.
Brewster ranks in the 24th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
24th
percentile, household income
53rd
percentile, home value
70th
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: Brewster, WA
1,737 people live in Brewster, Washington - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Brewster brings in $52,885 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 23.9%. Typical homes in Brewster are valued around $237,800, and the median resident age is 28.6 years. About 8.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 58.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Brewster (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Washington at 107.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,472 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Washington's average monthly utility costs around $188 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 70.0 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Brewster'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 schools and households to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Brewster, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, local building permits.
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. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Brewster?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 8.3% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Brewster?
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 Washington, the closest population matches are Fall (1,743 residents, $144,625 income); Home (1,718 residents, $87,679 income); Fords Prairie (1,762 residents, $55,556 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Espy, PA (1,737 residents); Trempealeau, WI (1,737 residents); Toro Canyon, CA (1,736 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Brewster?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.6%. 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.
Is Brewster growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +107 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Brewster?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 23.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
4.5×
Home value
$237,800
Household income
$52,885
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Low income · poverty 23.9% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
F
City profile score · Brewster, WA
13/100
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.
Household income F
$52,885
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
107.0 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 F
23.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
8.3%
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).
Brewster profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $52,885
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Poverty rate: 7/100 (F) · 23.9%
Bachelor's+ share: 2/100 (F) · 8.3%
How does Brewster compare to other US cities?
Brewster measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income24% higher than other cities
Home value53% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% 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 Brewster against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Washington only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Washington-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Brewster near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Brewster ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Brewster only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#495 of 565
12th percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#461 of 565
18th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#25 of 598
96th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#562 of 599
6th percentile in Washington
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 Washington only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
24th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Brewster's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$237,80047th percentilemore affordable than 47% 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
Brewster's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,966 of 15,516
More affordable than 23% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,175 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.5×, Brewster sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,966 of 15,516 and #9,175 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$52,885Brewster, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Brewster, WA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Brewster, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)8.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)23.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,737
Median Income
$52,885
Median Home Value
$237,800
Median Age
28.6
Poverty Rate
23.9%
Labor force participation
58.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
8.3%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Brewster's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,986 residents
2021
2,008 residents
2022
2,019 residents
2023
2,032 residents
2024
2,071 residents
2025
2,093 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.7M
2020
3
1
2
$0.4M
2021
7
7
0
$1.5M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
4
4
0
$0.7M
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.6%
Carpool
10.5%
Public Transit
0.5%
Walk
3.9%
Work from Home
10.2%
Other
2.3%
Based on 647 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Washington statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $188
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Washington at $188 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Washington statewide averages, not a meter reading for Brewster. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Washington's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Brewster is $1,472/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Washington statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Washington statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Brewster sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Brewster compares to similar-size Washington 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.