South AlamoTX
A town of 3,309.
Is South Alamo a good place to live?
South Alamo grades D overall, 537th of 640 graded towns in Texas, mostly because of health and incomes. Residents are less healthy than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The median household income is $34K, and 33% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: homes are within reach, about $70K for a typical one, or 1.3 years of the McAllen metro’s $54K median household income. 33% of residents live below the poverty line in South Alamo, where Texas’ towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 96% of U.S. towns.
100% of working residents leave South Alamo for work
Where South Alamo’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How South Alamo grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far South Alamo is from typical.
Its grades run from A for cost of living (better than 94% of comparable towns) to D− for walkability (better than 4%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to South Alamo: who provides what
South Alamo is unincorporated, so Hidalgo County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in South Alamo.
South Alamo has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
More of South Alamo’s adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance than in the typical Texas or U.S. town
Against the 1,074 U.S. towns with household incomes like South Alamo’s, it is less healthy than 58%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
41% of adults sleep under 7 hours in South Alamo. Of 31 CDC measures, South Alamo beats the Texas average on 1 and trails it on 21. Two figures for adults in the town: 19% have diabetes, 43% get no exercise outside work.
| South Alamo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 24% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 30% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 20% | 14% |
| What stands out | South Alamo | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.6% | 6.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 45.9% | 19.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median household income in South Alamo is lower than in most of Texas or the rest of the country
South Alamo has 28 jobs for its 1,058 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
0.2% of South Alamo working residents work locally. Employers in South Alamo added 24 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 28. For half of commuters, work is under 10 miles away. The top destinations are McAllen (18%), Pharr (12%) and Edinburg (9%).
| South Alamo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $34,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.2% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
South Alamo has a high natural-hazard risk, chiefly from cold waves
South Alamo’s risk rating from FEMA stands at 69 of 100. FEMA puts 35% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to cold waves, and 33% to hurricanes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
South Alamo has mild winters and hot summers
The Mcallen weather station, 9 miles away, records that about 170 days a year reach 90°, more than in 99% of U.S. towns. January nights average 50.2°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 97°.
Snow is almost unheard of. The January low in the town is 50°F.
| South Alamo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 50°F | 37°F | 22°F |
| July high | 97°F | 95°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median home in South Alamo sells for about $205K
At 1.3 years of the McAllen metro’s $54K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 99% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $854, against $4,232 across Texas, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The share of households in South Alamo who live in a home they own: 81%. For South Alamo, the median rent is $677 a month.
| South Alamo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $677 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 81% | 69% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Bert Ogden Arena and 6 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around South Alamo. Close and well known come first.
8 mi Stadium & arenaBert Ogden Arena9 mi Stadium & arenaRobert and Janet Vackar Stadium
9 mi Stadium & arenaPayne Arena
40 mi National Historical ParkPalo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park169K visitors a year11 mi MuseumMuseum of South Texas History
9 mi GardenMcAllen Botanical GardensPhoto credits
Bert Ogden Arena: Wikidude10000, CC0 · Payne Arena: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park: Schmorleitz, CC BY-SA 3.0 · McAllen Botanical Gardens: Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, United States, CC BY 3.0 us
Everything we know about South Alamo
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of South Alamo
About 3 of every 100 South Alamo residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
About South Alamo
Census-designated place in Texas
South Alamo is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The area is known locally as "Little Mex (Mexico)". The population was 3,414 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.0 sq mi
- Elevation
- 95 ft
Questions about South Alamo
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is South Alamo, TX a good place to live?
South Alamo grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #537 of 640 in Texas. It grades D− for health and C− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is South Alamo, TX expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $70,000, 77% below the Texas typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.