Provided is an apparatus and method for transmitting neighbor base station information in a broadband wireless communication system. In the method, the priorities of subcells included in neighbor base stations that use at least one frequency allocation are determined. Subcells are selected among the subcells according to the determined priorities, information about which is to be transmitted to mobile stations located in a coverage area. Information about the selected subcells is transmitted to the mobile stations. Thus, the amount of resource for transmission of the neighbor base station information can be reduced. Therefore, the available resource of the downlink can be increased and the amount of a scan operation of the mobile station can be reduced.