South AlamoTX
3,309 residents make their home in this town in Texas.
Is South Alamo a good place to live?
The data are hard on it. Its lowest grade is for health — residents are less healthy than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. South Alamo’s overall D puts it 537th of 640 in Texas. It comes out better than 8% of U.S. towns. Walkability is weaker too. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. Cost of living is its strong suit: a typical home costs about $70K, 1.3 years of the McAllen metro’s $54K median household income. Incomes are weaker too: the median household income is $34K, and 33% of residents live below the poverty line.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES.
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.
43% of adults get no exercise outside work in South Alamo, above both the Texas town median (30%) and the median of U.S. towns (25%). South Alamo: 69% of adults had a checkup this year. Of 31 CDC measures, South Alamo beats the Texas average on 1 and trails it on 21.
| South Alamo | Typical Texas town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
For most of its workers, the job is outside South Alamo
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 working residents work locally in South Alamo. 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 | Typical Texas town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 33% | 12% | 9.6% |
| 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
FEMA expects more storm and flood damage in South Alamo than in 69% of U.S. communities.
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°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 97°.
Snow is almost unheard of. Precipitation in South Alamo totals about 23 inches in a normal year.
| South Alamo | Typical Texas town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
South Alamo stands out in Texas and nationally: the median rent there is lower
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 is 81%.
| South Alamo | Typical Texas town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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.