City safety & data profile

BrawleyCA

Brawley, CA is a 26K-resident city in Imperial County with a median household income of $59,311.

Imperial County, California. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Brawley, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Brawley has a population larger than 57% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $290,700, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-16
26K
Population (place)
Top 43%
By size
$59,311
Median income (place)
$290,700
Median home (place)
21.3%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Brawley

Brawley posts a median household income higher than 21% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Brawley area.

Bottom 22%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near Brawley

Composite score · Brawley, CA

15/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024

A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Household income F
$59,311

Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Violent crime F
442 /100k

FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.

Poverty rate F
21.3%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Bachelor's+ share F
15.9%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

See the full national tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).

Where Brawley income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$59,311 Bottom 21% higher than 21% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Brawley $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. 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, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

CA cities ranked by population

Population among 482 CA places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows Los Angeles tops this pool by population; the income lead belongs to Alamo instead.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Income ranking: CA

The same 482-city CA pool, sorted by median household income instead of headcount. Tooltip carries the population rank.

median

What this shows Income honors go to Alamo here -- by headcount, that title belongs to Los Angeles.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Brawley, CA beyond the headline numbers

Brawley sits inside Imperial County, California, at roughly 32.98°N, -115.53°W. Population 25,897, $59,311 median household income. Median home value $290,700, median rent $988. Poverty rate 21.3%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around Brawley, 3/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER. Climate: 73.8°F annual average, 2.4" precipitation.

15.4% unemployment puts Brawley in the toughest quarter of reporting cities for job availability.

Among the CDC measures on this page, lack of health insurance departs furthest from its peer median: 21.5% in Brawley, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

Brawley's median age is 30.6 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.

21.3% of Brawley, CA residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

15.9% of Brawley adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the lowest quarter of reporting cities.

A typical renter in Brawley, CA pays $988/month, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities -- rent here is not what strains a local paycheck.

A median home in Brawley runs about 4.9 times median household income, above the midpoint. Multiples in this range usually mean buyers are arriving from outside the local wage base.

Remote work covers 11.1% of Brawley workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Brawley from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

The 10-Year Trend 2013–2024

County-level trend (Imperial County): Brawley's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
180K+3%
Median Income
$57,681+38%
Median Home Value
$309,600+110%
Poverty Rate
19.5%-16%
Unemployment
12.5%-32%

The Economic Picture

What stands out most about Brawley's economic profile: poverty rate at 21.3%, 72% above the average across tracked places. A second figure worth noting: median rent at $988/mo, 36% below the tracked-city average.

Economics indicators for Brawley, CA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$988/mo
Poverty Rate
21.3% +72% vs avg
Unemployment 15.4%
Bachelor's Degree+ 15.9%
Work From Home 11.1%
Public Transit 0.6%

By the Numbers

White 21.4%
African American 0.7%
Asian 2.1%

Health Snapshot 15 measures

Health Indicators

Short Sleep Duration
41.6%
Physical Inactivity
35.6%
Obesity
35.1%
High Blood Pressure
33.3%
Lack of Health Insurance
21.5%
Frequent Mental Distress
18.4%
Frequent Physical Distress
17.6%
Binge Drinking
15.7%
Diabetes
15.3%
Current Smoking
13.1%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 48.5%
Annual Checkup 69.4%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
9.5%
Coronary Heart Disease
6.8%
Stroke
3.8%

Hospitals 1 total

CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
0
★★★
1
★★
0
★
0
Average Rating
3/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
PIONEERS MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE DISTRICT
BRAWLEY · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★☆☆

Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 Normals
Avg Temperature
74°F
Annual Rainfall
2.4"
Hot Months (>80°F)
7
Cold Months (<40°F)
0
72°
41°
Jan
0.5"
75°
45°
Feb
0.5"
81°
50°
Mar
0.3"
87°
54°
Apr
0.1"
95°
61°
May
0.0"
104°
68°
Jun
0.0"
108°
77°
Jul
0.0"
108°
78°
Aug
0.1"
104°
71°
Sep
0.1"
93°
60°
Oct
0.1"
80°
49°
Nov
0.2"
70°
41°
Dec
0.5"

Cost of Living

BEA 2024
95.2 Regional Price Parity

4.8% below national average

US avg
95.2

Metro area: El Centro, CA (MSA)

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.

NFIP Flood Claim History

FEMA NFIP, county-level
2
Claims filed
$34K
Total paid out
X
Most common flood zone

Imperial County has recorded 2 National Flood Insurance Program claims totaling $34K in payouts since 2016.

Tropical Storm Hilary alone generated 1 of those claims, the county's largest named flood event in this record.

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.

What alerts and safety updates affect Brawley?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Brawley right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet CA-BRAWLEY · Brawley

Brawley: no area-tagged alerts on record. State hubs carry the live CAP stream.

  • FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
  • LEAD-NONE Feed idle
  • DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed

Counts reflect published articles tagged to Brawley; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse California state hubs · Methodology

Keep reading

Tracking Safety Alerts in Your Area

How Areazine tags Brawley in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Questions & Answers 9

What is the population of Brawley, CA? ▼
Brawley, CA has a population of 25,897 people, located in Imperial County, California.
What is the median household income in Brawley? ▼
The median household income in Brawley, CA is $59,311 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 21.3%.
What is the median home value in Brawley? ▼
The median home value in Brawley, CA is $290,700. Median rent is $988/month.
What are the top health concerns in Brawley? ▼
The top health indicators in Brawley include Short Sleep Duration (41.6%), Physical Inactivity (35.6%), Obesity (35.1%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Brawley? ▼
Brawley has 1 hospital with an average rating of 3/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Brawley? ▼
The median age in Brawley, CA is 30.6 years. 15.9% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.
What is the climate like in Brawley? ▼
Brawley has an average annual temperature of 73.8°F and 2.4" of annual precipitation.
What is the cost of living in Brawley? ▼
The regional price parity for Brawley is 95.174, meaning prices are 4.8% below the national average.
How many flood insurance claims has Imperial County filed? ▼
Imperial County, California has recorded 2 NFIP flood insurance claims since 2016, totaling $34K in payouts. This is county-level data: FEMA does not attribute individual claims to a specific city.

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Brawley, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside CA (21.3% here).

Rockford, IL 21.3% Columbus, MS 21.3% Mattoon, IL 21.3% Bemidji, MN 21.3%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside CA ($59,311 here).

La Porte, IN $59,307 Bryan, TX $59,289 Winston-Salem, NC $59,268 Coatesville, PA $59,256

Compare Brawley with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Nearby Cities 8

Imperial, CA 17K El Centro, CA 44K Calexico, CA 40K San Luis, AZ 32K Somerton, AZ 15K Yuma, AZ 96K Coachella, CA 45K Indio, CA 88K
All cities in California → Compare Brawley vs Imperial → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Next steps for Brawley

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Brawley area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • A median income figure alone can mislead, cross-check it against the poverty rate for the fuller picture.
  • Compare Brawley against California peers on any ranking lens. Explore California

Place-level figures for population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) come from U.S. Census ACS; health data is CDC PLACES; hospital counts cover facilities in and around the city. Any county-level trend is labeled as such.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Imperial County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.