Photo: Theunderratedtaco · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in McAllen (6.0%) is higher than in 74% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, McAllen is behind 71% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income McAllen is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (B). About one in three work in McAllen; the top destination outside it is Edinburg (13%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in McAllen
Most McAllen residents work close to home
70% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
McAllen is where the jobs are
McAllen has 84,819 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A lot of McAllen works one town over
29% of working residents work in a town that borders McAllen: Edinburg (13%), Pharr (8%) and Mission (8%). Next door ↓
Commutes from McAllen are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How McAllen earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds McAllen’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McAllen could be anywhere from C to C+.
The distance from McAllen to work
About 19% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
McAllen on a workday afternoon
On a workday 33,116 residents head out to work, 19,497 work right here, and 65,322 people come in from elsewhere.
About 183,000 people are in McAllen on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long McAllen spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McAllen workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 54,799 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where the people who work in McAllen live
Where McAllen clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
What McAllen’s employers do
84,819 jobs are based in McAllen.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McAllen, 2013 → 2023: 73,355 → 84,819. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs McAllen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from McAllen start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 62,370 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.0% of McAllen households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of McAllen’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
191st of 234: where McAllen ranks among U.S. towns of 105,000 to 203,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Allen TX | 113,447 | $131K | 6.1% | 3.7% | 11% | A |
| 8 | Sugar Land TX | 107,726 | $136K | 5.5% | 4.1% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 189 | Warren Township IN | 107,778 | $59K | 17.2% | 6.9% | 14% | C |
| 190 | Springfield MO | 169,847 | $49K | 18.4% | 4.3% | 71% | C |
| 191 | McAllen TX | 150,640 | $62K | 20.0% | 6.0% | 37% | C |
| 192 | Lakewood Township NJ | 143,765 | $65K | 24.8% | 5.8% | 42% | C |
| 193 | Gainesville FL | 148,671 | $46K | 30.8% | 5.5% | 53% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 234 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of McAllen, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns next door employ 29% of McAllen
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | McAllen workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McAllen | – | C | B | 22 min | $61,579 |
| Edinburg | 13% | C | B− | 22 min | $59,466 |
| Pharr | 8% | C− | B− | 21 min | $52,814 |
| Mission | 8% | C | B− | 21 min | $60,767 |
| Granjeno | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Hidalgo | under 2% | C− | C+ | 20 min | $59,441 |
| Alton | under 2% | C− | C | 24 min | $52,715 |
Same-state neighbors only. Granjeno: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Edinburg. Darker towns draw more of McAllen’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in McAllen: questions
What is the median household income in McAllen?
$61,579 (±$2,258) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McAllen?
20.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McAllen?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McAllen work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Edinburg (13%, 9 mi), Mission (8%, 5 mi), Pharr (8%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is McAllen walkable?
McAllen is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McAllen without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McAllen, from the people who make the trip.
More of McAllen
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.