A market of 891,977 residents, ranked 64th among the 387 metropolitan areas in the country. Below: who lives here, which trades are crowded, and where a local advertiser can gain ground.
The metropolitan statistical area covers McAllen, Edinburg and Mission.
Homes are valued at a median of $140,900 against $332,700 nationally, 58 percent below the national figure. A $54,338 median household income puts McAllen, TX 33 percent below the national figure.
The household mix in brief. Work: 382,422 in the labor force, 7.6% unemployed (2 points above the US share). The median resident is 30.5 years old, 8.4 years below the national median. 20.6% of adults finished a four-year degree or more (15 points below the US share). Homeownership stands at 67.5%, 2 points above the US share.
Against the state as a whole, the median income is 31 percent lower than the Texas figure, the median home value is 50 percent lower than the Texas figure, and the number of businesses per resident is 32 percent thinner than the Texas figure; see the Texas page for the full figures.
The business base: 13,393 establishments with employees. That works out to 15 businesses per 1,000 residents, 40 percent below the national figure (the national rate is 25 per 1,000). The most numerous category on this page is restaurants at 1,131. Contractors in the home-services trades total 331, or 2.5% of the base, 2 points below the US share.
| Trade | Establishments | Per 100,000 residents | vs US mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscaping services | 36 | 4 | 0.19× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 31 | 3.5 | 0.45× |
| Roofing contractors | 21 | 2.4 | 0.51× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 20 | 2.2 | 0.53× |
| Self-storage facilities | 18 | 2 | 0.61× |
| Electrical contractors | 85 | 9.5 | 0.64× |
| Personal care services (all) | 170 | 19.1 | 0.66× |
| Beauty salons | 96 | 10.8 | 0.71× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 138 | 15.5 | 0.77× |
| General automotive repair | 105 | 11.8 | 0.77× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 166 | 18.6 | 1.04× |
| Dentists | 228 | 25.6 | 1.05× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 247 | 27.7 | 1.13× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 1,131 | 126.8 | 1.14× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 18 | 2 | 1.21× |
| Legal services | 357 | 40 | 1.23× |
| General freight trucking | 310 | 34.8 | 1.65× |
| Automobile dealers | 125 | 14 | 1.66× |
| Physicians' offices | 687 | 77 | 1.97× |
| Child day care services | 303 | 34 | 2.30× |
Reading the index: 1.00 matches the national mix, 1.50 means half again as common here, 0.50 half as common.
Against the US mix, child day care services, physicians' offices, automobile dealers and general freight trucking are over-represented. Child day care services are the widest gap, 303 of them, 2.3 times the national share. Thinner than the national mix are landscaping services, specialty trade contractors, roofing contractors and concrete contractors. Landscaping services are the thinnest at 36, about 19% of the national share. Dentists, restaurants and grocery stores sit near their national proportions.
The most numerous of the listed trades: restaurants with 1,131 establishments, then physicians' offices (687) and legal services (357). Scaled to residents, restaurants run 126.8 per 100,000, more than physicians' offices or legal services. Sector view: medical and dental practices index at 1.6 times the national share, the home-services trades at about half of.
Advertisers in child day care services, physicians' offices and automobile dealers should assume high competition on Google Ads and put equal weight on the free real estate: an accurate Business Profile, steady new reviews, and pages that match the local searches word for word. Where the base is thin (landscaping services, specialty trade contractors and roofing contractors), reach beats refinement: cover the service-plus-place searches across the whole area, because there are few competitors to split them with. With a median age 8.4 years below the national median, expect more discovery through maps, short video and AI answers; search alone covers less of the market. Income 33 percent below the national figure puts price front and center; ads that state the offer plainly and make calling easy do best.
The services that fit this market, given the numbers above. Each links to the full description.
Search optimization aimed at the local queries that produce calls.
A clean, fast site with one job: make the call happen.
Around-the-clock lead capture on the website.
Paid social that reaches people before they search.
Search campaigns built around the searches people in McAllen, TX actually type, with the geography fenced to where the work is.
Keeping the Business Profile complete, current and answered so it earns the map placement.
McAllen, TX has 891,977 residents (US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimate), ranking 64th of 387 metropolitan areas.
The median household income in McAllen, TX is $54,338 (ACS 2024 5-year), below the US median of $80,734.
The Census Bureau counts 13,393 employer establishments in McAllen, TX (County Business Patterns 2023), or 15 businesses per 1,000 residents.
The median home value in McAllen, TX is $140,900, and 67.5% of homes are owner-occupied (ACS 2024 5-year).
Measured against the US business mix (County Business Patterns 2023), child day care services, physicians' offices and automobile dealers have more establishments per resident than the US average; landscaping services, specialty trade contractors and roofing contractors have fewer in McAllen, TX.
One conversation about your trade, your area and your goals; then a written plan.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023. Updated 2026-09-29.