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Towns / Louisiana

Brownsville, Louisiana

Brownsville is an unincorporated community of about 4,400 people in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, in the Monroe area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, New Orleans, is about 214 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Monroe

Population
4,357
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$74,700
Ouachita Parish prices up 8.6% since 2022
Prices, Monroe area
83.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Glenwood Regional Medical Center
To New Orleans
214 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 16.4% below the U.S. average in the Monroe metro area.
  • More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Brownsville to say.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 2 elementary and 1 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is West Monroe High School, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byGlenwood Regional Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNew Orleans is about 214 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Brownsville meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Brownsville runs into the built-up area around Monroe (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$74,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 8.6%Ouachita Parish, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$857 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Homes owned by the people living in them
53%U.S.: 65%
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
9%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
83.6U.S. average = 100 (the Monroe metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 8.6% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Monroe metro area, not Brownsville alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
4,357The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
37.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
16%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
25%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
12%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (30%); manufacturing (13%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (10%)
Average commute
14 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
29%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Glenwood Regional Medical Center, West Monroe, LA, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Brownsville, run by Ouachita Parish. The nearest public high school is West Monroe High School, about 2 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Louisiana's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
64%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
83%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
37°F
July average high
93°F
Days 90°F or hotter
97 a year
Nights at or below freezing
33 a year
Rain and melted snow
55.6 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
86 feet

Weather stations: Monroe Rgnl Ap (7 miles away) and W Monroe (2 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Bossier City, New Orleans.

Ouachita Parish is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Poverty Point National Monument44 miles

Read about Brownsville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Brownsville?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Calhoun, LA (unincorporated)420 people, 11 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.