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Wayne County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Brownstown Township, MI

Brownstown Township comes in three separate pieces and mails under five ZIP codes, each one shared with a neighbor, so Samantha starts from the parcel, its school district and its tax bill, then compares your loan across multiple wholesale lenders.

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Buying a home in Brownstown Township

Brownstown Township, a charter township in Wayne County, is home to about 32,889 residents in the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey (33,194 in the 2020 census) across about 22 square miles of land. Its ZIP codes also reach into Flat Rock, Gibraltar, Riverview and Rockwood, so the parcel record, not the mailing address, shows which unit's tax rates apply. Downtown Detroit is about 18 miles northeast in a straight line.

By the numbers

Brownstown Township housing and mortgage snapshot

Values move. Treat these as orientation and let us pull current figures for the address you are considering.

$273,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+42%

Typical rise in taxable value the year after a home sells, 2026 Uncapping Study

5

Residential ZIP codes: 48173, 48174, 48134, 48183, 48193

What financing looks like in Brownstown Township

Redfin publishes no figure for the township itself, so its ZIP code medians stand in, each covering land well outside Brownstown. For the three months ending September 2026 they ran about $347,000 in 48134, $265,000 in 48183, $255,000 in 48174, $245,000 in 48193 and $240,000 in 48173, and homes went under contract in about 11 to 22 days on average. The Census puts the township's owner median at $272,700 for 2020 to 2024, with the middle half of owned homes between about $189,000 and $358,000. All of that sits under the 2026 FHA limit for Wayne County, $541,287, and far under the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750. Eligible veterans can use VA, and eligible first-time buyers can pair a MI Home Loan with MSHDA's MI 10K, $10,000 toward the down payment, repaid when the home is sold, refinanced or paid off, or when you stop living there, on homes priced up to $566,355.

The kind of home decides more here than the price. The Census counts about 750 manufactured homes in the township, nearly all in three areas: Tela Valley north of Sibley Road, the area around Lloyd's Mobile Home Park off King Road, and the streets near Woodhaven High School off Van Horn Road. A home on a rented site in a licensed community is personal property and is usually financed with a chattel loan, while one on land you own can take a mortgage. About one home in fourteen is an attached single-family home such as a condo or townhome, where the association usually has to pass the lender's review, and the township's assessing office says it does not keep condominium master deeds, so ask the seller or the association for them. The third detail is the flood map: check FEMA's map for the address, and in a high-risk zone the lender requires flood insurance.

Two township rules reach the closing table. Brownstown's water department requires a final meter read whenever a home is sold, bought or rented, by appointment only and never through a lockbox, and mails that final bill to the title company holding escrow. Summer and winter tax bills come due July 1 and December 1 and can be paid without penalty through September 14 and February 14, so the tax money collected at closing depends on which of those dates you close near.

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Same schools, different bill: Woodhaven-Brownstown School District carried 44.68 homestead mills inside Brownstown Township in 2025 and 53.39 across the line in the City of Woodhaven.

The market

The Brownstown Township housing market

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey puts the median owner-occupied home value in Brownstown Township near $272,700, across about 9,758 owner-occupied homes, with a median year built of 1994. The typical home value in Brownstown Township is near $273,000. Homeowners pay a median of about $4,346 a year in property taxes, an effective rate of about 1.59% of the median value.

Sub-markets

Brownstown Township by ZIP code

Every one of the township's ZIP codes is shared, and four of the five carry another town's name as the Postal Service default. Land shares come from Census ZIP boundaries, sale medians are Redfin's for the three months ending September 2026 and cover the whole ZIP code.

48173: about 30% of the township

Both southern pieces, from the Allen Road neighborhoods to Lake Erie Metropark. Mailed as Rockwood by default. About half of the ZIP lies in Brownstown, the rest in Gibraltar, Rockwood and a corner of Flat Rock. Gibraltar School District. ZIP-wide median about $240,000.

48174: about 21%

The north side from King Road up to Pennsylvania Road, including the Taylor schools corner and Sabol Sub. Mailed as Romulus by default, and only about 12% of the ZIP is in Brownstown, most of the rest being Romulus and Huron Township. ZIP-wide median about $255,000.

48134: about 19%

The west side along Arsenal, West and Van Horn roads, home to the township's newest subdivisions. Mailed as Flat Rock by default. About a quarter of the ZIP is Brownstown, the rest Flat Rock, Huron, Berlin and Ash townships. ZIP-wide median about $347,000, the highest of the five.

48183: about 18%

Township Hall's own ZIP code, covering the Telegraph corridor south of King Road and part of the Allen Road piece. Mailed as Trenton by default, and Woodhaven is also accepted. About a quarter of it is Brownstown, the rest mainly Trenton and Woodhaven. ZIP-wide median about $265,000.

48193: about 11%

The northeast corner along Sibley Road toward Racho and Allen roads, beside the business center. Mailed as Riverview by default. About a third of the ZIP is Brownstown and the rest is the City of Riverview. ZIP-wide median about $245,000.

Where to look

Brownstown Township neighborhoods

Tela Valley, Capital Park and Gudith Elementary

The north edge along Sibley Road from Telegraph Road east to Racho Road, with Capital Park, Gudith Elementary on Sibley, Quail Ridge, Liberty Square and Wellington Estates. Two very different block groups. Near Telegraph, manufactured homes, Tela Valley's among them, make up about 368 of 862 homes, renters hold about two in five, and the Census publishes no owner median. East toward Racho Road, about 500 detached houses and 130 attached homes date mostly from the mid 1970s, about six in seven owner-occupied, with owner values near $205,000. In the western block group the typical home dates from 1993, and about 110 homes sit in buildings of five units or more.

Dawnshire and the Allen Road business side

East of the Detroit-Toledo Expressway, where King Road meets Allen Road near the Riverview line. Dawnshire's houses and a few apartment buildings sit next to the Brownstown Business Center, and the two block groups north of it hold no homes at all. Owner values near $263,000, a typical home from 1982, and about seven homes in ten owner-occupied. Of about 533 homes, about 375 are detached houses and about 158 are in buildings of five units or more.

King Road, Frazier Park and Kings Pointe

South of Sibley Road between Telegraph and the expressway along Gudith and King roads: Frazier Park, Parkwood Village, Oakwood Estates, Kings Pointe, Prairie Creek Village and Prairie Creek Park, the King Road ballfields, and the Stratford Place and Brownstown Square apartments. The Census counts about 100 manufactured homes here, and Lloyd's Mobile Home Park sits off King Road. Typical home from 2000, owner values near $309,000 with a wide margin. Of about 796 homes, about 477 are detached houses, and about seven in ten are owner-occupied.

Sabol Sub, Hampton Square and the Brownstown Prairie

Between King and Sibley roads west of Telegraph: Sabol Sub, Hampton Square, Doves Pointe and Bonks Bay, Brownstown Middle School and Hand School, and the Brownstown Prairie State Wildlife Area. Built mostly in the 2000s, with a typical home from 2005, and more than a third of homes attached. Nearly every home is owner-occupied, with owner values near $236,000. Brownstown Creek runs through it. Its mail goes under 48174, which the Postal Service defaults to Romulus, with Brownstown also accepted.

Fox Creek, Pheasant Run and the Taylor schools corner

The northwest corner from Sibley Road up to Pennsylvania Road around Beech Daly Road: Fox Creek, Pheasant Run, Maplewood Creek and Berman's West Side Sub, with Ford's parts redistribution center on Pennsylvania Road. Nearly all detached and all owner-occupied in the Census count, typical home from 1995, owner values near $275,000. About two thirds of this area, and a sliver south of Sibley that takes in Buck Avenue, is in Taylor School District, not Woodhaven-Brownstown. On a Taylor schools parcel the 2025 homestead total was 37.56 mills, against 44.68 on the Woodhaven-Brownstown side.

Kensington Estates, Bridgewater and Sibley Prairie

The west side on both sides of West Road out to Inkster Road: Kensington Estates, Bridgewater, Bryce Commons and the Legg and King Highway subdivisions, with the Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy's Sibley Prairie preserve on West Road. The newest block group in the township, with a typical home from 2013, owner values near $350,000 and about 94% of homes owner-occupied. Redfin's median for the 48134 ZIP code, about $347,000 for the three months ending September 2026, was the highest of the township's five, though that ZIP reaches well past the township line.

Woodland Heights and Telegraph at West Road

The block between Telegraph, King and West roads around Woodland Heights. Every home the Census counted here is a detached house and all but about one in thirty-five are owner-occupied. Typical home from 1997, owner values near $302,000. The Census counts about 649 homes here, mailed under 48134, the Postal Service's Flat Rock ZIP code, where Brownstown is also an accepted city name.

Arsenal Road: Pioneer Acres, Smith Creek and Woodcreek Meadows

Both sides of Arsenal Road from West Road down past Van Horn Road toward the Flat Rock line: Pioneer Acres, Van Tel Park, Smith Creek, Timber Creek, Long Acre, Arsenal Heights, Woodcreek Meadows, Silver Creek and Wheatland Estates, Wegienka Elementary on Arsenal, and the Casa San Marino and Bridgewood apartments. The oldest subdivisions on the west side, with typical homes from 1977 and 1978. Owner values near $336,000 north of Van Horn and near $300,000 south of it, the second with a wide margin. The Census geocoder places Wegienka Elementary's address, 23925 Arsenal Road, Flat Rock 48134, inside the township and in Woodhaven-Brownstown School District.

Township Hall, Thorn Park and West Lake Village

Telegraph Road from just south of King Road down to Van Horn Road: Township Hall and the police station, Thorn Park, West Lake Village, Concord Cooperative, Park Place, Telegraph Acres, and Meadowbrook Village, Ashley Oaks, Westwood Villas and West Grove. The township's most mixed area: in the larger block group about 1,300 homes, a fifth attached and a fifth in apartment buildings, owner values near $286,000 and a typical home from 1995. North of West Road most homes are rented. Township Hall at 21313 Telegraph also houses the assessing office, open Monday to Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Fairway Villas, Flowers Creek and Woodhaven High School

Along Van Horn Road near Telegraph, around Fairway Villas, Flowers Creek, Vista Park, Hidden Gardens and Tanglewood Village, with Woodhaven High School. Two Census pictures side by side: about 567 detached houses, all owner-occupied, typical home from 1997, owner values near $356,000 with a tight margin, and next door a block group where about 256 of 332 homes are manufactured homes, owner values near $86,000 with a very wide margin. In that second block group the typical home dates from 2007, and the Census counts all 332 of its homes as owner-occupied.

Allen and Vreeland roads, between Woodhaven and Gibraltar

The middle piece of the township, cut off from the rest by Woodhaven, Flat Rock, Rockwood and Gibraltar: Allen, Vreeland, Gibraltar and Fort roads, Hunter Elementary, Fort-Allen and Fort-Gib parks, Heatherwoode, Plumwoode, Spring Gate, Chatham Park, Hidden Oaks, Woodgrove, Roney Place, Mill Creek, Sutton Farms, Executive Hills, Newman Farms, Whispering Woods, Stoney Brook Village and the South Glen apartments. Gibraltar School District serves all of it. Tract owner values near $214,000 and a typical home from 1980, with Whispering Woods off Gibraltar Road the exception, built around 2008 and near $337,000. Gibraltar School District's 2025 homestead total here was 44.03 mills, about $65 a year less on each $100,000 of taxable value than Woodhaven-Brownstown's 44.68.

Lake Erie Metropark and Huron River Drive

The south piece along West Jefferson Avenue and Huron River Drive, all in Gibraltar School District: Lake Erie Metropark with its golf course and Harbor of Refuge, the National Park Service's Hull's Trace site, Cherry Island and Milleville Beach on the shore, Downriver High School, and Cattail Creek and newer streets off Woodruff Road. Nearly every home is a detached house, about 96% owner-occupied, owner values near $316,000 and a typical home from 1999, though the older shoreline block group dates from about 1962 and its median carries a very wide margin. In the Cattail Creek block group the typical home dates from about 2002, with owner values near $313,000 and a wide margin.

Schools and commute

Schools

Census school district boundaries put about 57% of the township's land in Woodhaven-Brownstown School District, nearly all of the north piece. Gibraltar School District serves both southern pieces, the Allen and Vreeland roads area and the land along Jefferson Avenue and the Huron River, about 36%. Taylor School District takes the northwest corner west of Telegraph Road, mostly north of Sibley Road, about 7%. The district changes the bill: Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead totals inside the township were 44.68 mills with Woodhaven-Brownstown, 44.03 with Gibraltar and 37.56 with Taylor, about $712 a year apart on each $100,000 of taxable value between the highest and lowest. A Brownstown street name does not settle it either: the Census geocoder puts 19326 Buck Ave, Brownstown 48174 in Taylor School District, a few blocks from homes in Woodhaven-Brownstown. The parcel record and the district's own boundary map do.

Commute

The Detroit-Toledo Expressway, I-75, crosses the township north to south, and Telegraph Road (US-24) is its main street, passing Township Hall at 21313 Telegraph. Fort Street and West Jefferson Avenue serve the east and south pieces. From Township Hall, by OpenStreetMap routing outside rush hour, downtown Detroit is about 19 miles and 26 minutes up I-75, Detroit Metropolitan Airport about 12 miles and 21 minutes by way of Sibley and Inkster roads, downtown Ann Arbor about 33 miles and 47 minutes, downtown Toledo about 41 miles and 49 minutes, and Lake Erie Metropark, in the township's own south piece, about 9 miles and 14 minutes. Ford's parts redistribution center sits inside the township on Pennsylvania Road. The Census puts the average commute near 25 minutes, with about one worker in nine working from home.

Before you write an offer

Brownstown Township details to settle early

Each of these is particular to Brownstown Township, and each is easier to sort out while you can still negotiate.

  • Which piece of the township. The township is three separate areas, so confirm on the parcel record that the home is in Brownstown and not Woodhaven, Flat Rock or Gibraltar next door. The assessing office, 734-675-5929, answers questions Monday to Thursday.
  • The school district line. Woodhaven-Brownstown, Gibraltar or Taylor, which moves the tax by up to about seven mills.
  • The flood map. Check FEMA's flood map for the address. In a high-risk zone the lender requires flood insurance, so price it before you write the offer.
  • The detention basin. Ask whether the subdivision maintains its basin through the association or a special assessment district on the tax bill.
  • The final water read. Book it with public works, 734-675-4000. Lockbox access is not allowed, so someone has to let the reader in.
  • A manufactured home's land. On a rented site in a community it is usually a chattel loan. On land you own it can take a mortgage, so know which before you choose the loan.
  • Renting it out later. Registration and a $200 single-family inspection come first, and the tax rises to the non-homestead rate.
  • The homestead exemption and transfer affidavit. File the exemption with the assessing office by June 1 for that year's taxes, and the township's FAQ notes the seller must also rescind theirs. The Property Transfer Affidavit is due within 45 days.

Michigan property taxes

Brownstown Township property taxes after you buy

The year after a Michigan home sells, its taxable value resets to half of the assessor's market value, so the seller's tax bill is not your tax bill.

In Brownstown Township, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 42% the year after a sale. On a $275,000 home, near the typical Brownstown Township value, the first-year tax goes up roughly $1,790 to $1,820, depending on the school district. Most homes here are in Woodhaven-Brownstown schools (about $1,820); Gibraltar schools homes run about $1,790. Your address decides which applies. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at a Brownstown Township address? Our Michigan property tax calculator finds that property's published 2025 millage and works out the tax to plan for after you buy.

How Michigan taxable value works

In Samantha's words

I'd much rather somebody ask me, "Why are your taxes higher than what I'm seeing online?" than have them build a housing budget around the wrong assumption.

2025 homestead millage

What sets a Brownstown Township tax bill

Michigan Treasury's 2025 total rates for a homestead, in mills. One mill is $1 for each $1,000 of taxable value. The first three cards are inside the township, the rest show the same school districts across the line.

Woodhaven-Brownstown: 44.68 mills

Most of the north piece. About $4,470 a year for each $100,000 of taxable value. 62.68 mills on a rental or second home.

Gibraltar School District: 44.03

Both southern pieces. About $65 less a year than Woodhaven-Brownstown per $100,000 of taxable value.

Taylor School District: 37.56

The northwest corner. About $712 less a year per $100,000 than Woodhaven-Brownstown, the smallest of the three school district totals in the township.

City of Woodhaven: 53.39

The same Woodhaven-Brownstown schools a few streets away, about $871 more a year per $100,000 than the township side.

Flat Rock, Gibraltar and Rockwood: 49.58 to 50.25

Gibraltar School District inside the three cities next door, roughly $555 to $622 more a year per $100,000 than the same district in Brownstown.

Taylor and Trenton: 49.84 and 60.76

Taylor schools inside the City of Taylor run about $1,230 a year more per $100,000 than in Brownstown's corner, and Trenton, which shares the 48183 ZIP code, carries the highest total nearby.

Local resources

Check Brownstown Township records yourself

The official offices behind the tax and school details on this page.

What our clients say

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Brownstown Township mortgage questions

If yours is not here, ask it on the call. There are no dumb questions.

My listing says Flat Rock, Romulus or Trenton. Could the home be in Brownstown Township?

Yes. The Postal Service accepts Brownstown in all five of the township’s ZIP codes, but the default city names are Rockwood (48173), Romulus (48174), Flat Rock (48134), Trenton (48183) and Riverview (48193). The Census geocoder puts 23925 Arsenal Rd, Flat Rock 48134 and 25555 Pennsylvania Rd, Romulus 48174 inside Brownstown Township. Those same ZIP codes also cover Woodhaven, Trenton, Riverview, Gibraltar, Rockwood, Flat Rock, Romulus and Huron Township, so we read the parcel record before we estimate a tax bill.

The parcel decides. Woodhaven-Brownstown covers about 57% of the township’s land, Gibraltar about 36% (both southern pieces) and Taylor about 7% in the northwest corner. Treasury’s 2025 homestead totals were 44.68, 44.03 and 37.56 mills, so a home in the Taylor corner carries about $712 less a year on each $100,000 of taxable value than one in Woodhaven-Brownstown.

Mostly because a township levies fewer mills than a city. With the same school district, Treasury’s 2025 homestead totals were 44.68 mills in Brownstown and 53.39 in the City of Woodhaven, and 44.03 in Brownstown against 50.08 in Flat Rock and 50.25 in Gibraltar. On $100,000 of taxable value that is about $600 to $870 a year. The rate is only half of it: the year after a sale, taxable value starts over, so plan on the buyer’s number, not the seller’s bill.

It depends on the address, so look the home up on FEMA’s flood map before you make an offer. In a high-risk zone the lender requires flood insurance, and FEMA says that applies to any home there with a mortgage from a government-backed lender. The maps in effect date from February 2012 for the north and middle pieces and October 2021 for the south piece, so read the current map for the address and get a quote while you can still negotiate.

The township’s Department of Public Works, 734-675-4000, runs the water mains and bills both services. The water comes from the Great Lakes Water Authority’s Southwest plant on the Detroit River, and the township is one of 13 members of the Downriver Utility Wastewater Authority. The township’s posted rate for a regular residential customer is $15.23 per 1,000 gallons for water and sewer together. A final meter read is required on every sale, by appointment, and the final bill goes to the title company. Homes with lawn irrigation need the backflow device tested every three years.

Yes. The metropark sits in the township’s south piece along West Jefferson Avenue, and the Census geocoder places its address, 32481 West Jefferson Avenue, inside Brownstown Township. From Township Hall it is about 9 miles and 14 minutes by car. Homes on that side of the township are in Gibraltar School District and mail under 48173, which the Postal Service defaults to Rockwood while accepting Brownstown.

Many subdivisions here drain to a detention basin. The township says homeowner associations maintain their own basins, and some subdivisions have a special assessment district that adds a yearly charge to every lot’s tax bill to keep the basin, pumps and drains working. Ask the seller for the latest tax bill and the association’s budget so you know which kind of subdivision you are buying into.

Yes, after it is registered with the building department and passes a rental inspection. The township’s 2026 fee schedule lists $200 to inspect a single-family house, and its checklist covers smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, escape windows and a sump pump that is not tied into the sanitary sewer. The tax changes too: without the principal residence exemption, the 2025 total in Woodhaven-Brownstown schools was 62.68 mills against 44.68.

Communities near Brownstown Township

Wayne County overview

Guides for Brownstown Township buyers

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Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Figures on this page are market research for orientation, not a quote. This page is for educational purposes only. It is not a credit decision, a preapproval, a commitment to lend, or an offer of credit.

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