Brownsville scores 62 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 4290 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Brownsville safe?

United States · North America · data updated 2026-09-04

61.8High · rank 4290 / 6,168
safer than 30% of ranked cities

Brownsville is a city in United States, home to about 141k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,290 of 6,168, with a safety score of 61.8 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.

Emergency 911 (ambulance, fire, police)

Elevated homicide rate5.76 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 2× the global city median.

No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for United States are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Brownsville really?

No published homicide figure exists for Brownsville itself, so the national rate stands in: United States recorded 5.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2023 - roughly 2 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. United States's income inequality is middling (Gini 41.8) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Brownsville also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 1 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.

What the travel advisories say

The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for United States without any avoid-travel warning in force. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.

What to watch out for in United States

Terrorism in the USA · Protecting your belongings · Violent crime · Protests · Personal ID · Alcohol laws · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Vehicle safety · Petrol stations · Air travel · Snowstorms · Hurricanes · +6 more

Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for United States — country-level, not specific to Brownsville. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: 5.8 /100knational rate, 2023 · ~2× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 1within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 41.8country, 2024
Human development: HDI 0.938country, 2023
Income: $89,490/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 141kurban centre · 2,045/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 12.7 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 64/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 74/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 64/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 3.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.84Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 7.0 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 98%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 3.7 doctors /1k2.7 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in United States

Earthquake: 7.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Cyclone: 7.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 7.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 7.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 4.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe United States as a whole, not Brownsville specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in United States (as of 2025).

All country-level figures shared by every city in United States; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%41

Peace25%92

Equality25%52

Development10%94

One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Brownsville that gives 61.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Brownsville compared with Matamoros

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Brownsville, red favours Matamoros.
Measure	Brownsville	Matamoros	Difference
Safety score	61.8	57.0	+4.8 — better for Brownsville
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	5.8 /100k	8.7 /100k	−2.9 /100k — better for Brownsville
Conflict deaths within 100 km	1	1	±0
Income inequality (Gini)	41.8	42.6	−0.8 — better for Brownsville
Human development (HDI)	0.938	0.789	+0.149 — better for Brownsville
Road deaths	12.7 /100k	12.8 /100k	−0.1 /100k — better for Brownsville
Rule of law	74/100	37/100	+37/100 — better for Brownsville
Corruption perceptions	64/100	27/100	+37/100 — better for Brownsville
Air quality (PM2.5)	7.0 µg/m³	16.6 µg/m³	−9.6 µg/m³ — better for Brownsville
Natural-hazard risk	3.3/10	4.9/10	−1.6/10 — better for Brownsville

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Matamoros →

Nearby cities

See Brownsville on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →