McAllen Texas City Overview

Fifty years ago, the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was a rural, agriculture-based economy characterized by sporadic growth. Today, the area is being transformed into a major international trade area by developing first-rate commercial, retail, office, industrial, medical, retirement and educational facilities. The promotion of international and retail trade, tourism and manufacturing is among the most successful along the U.S.-Mexico Border.

The Rio Grande Valley includes the four southern-most counties in Texas: Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy. It is in the geographic center of the region most recently termed the Rioplex, which includes the four Rio Grande Valley counties and the Northern Mexico border cities between Matamoros and Ciudad Mier.

The principal cities of McAllen, Brownsville and Harlingen combine to form the northern half of the Rioplex and are among the most rapidly growing region in America. In fact, the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission MSA ranked 4th fastest growing MSA in the U.S. between 1990 and 2000. From 2000 and 2006 it ranked 10th.

The 2008 Census places the population of the RGV at 1,194,819 million, a 63.4% increase over 1990.

Put simply, the RGV’s population is larger than nine states.

The southern half of the Rioplex includes the Mexico border cites of Matamoros, Rio Bravo and Reynosa, which contribute at least another 3.0 million to the region’s population. This brings the total population of this bi-national, bicultural, bilingual, international metropolitan area to 3.9 million or more: the Rioplex is larger than 25 states.

Statistics vary according to source, but all agree that Hispanics represent from 83% to 87% of the Rio Grande Valley population; Rio Grande Valley residents under 35 years of age make up between 50% and 60%. The population, although diverse, is defined by two dominant demographic criteria: Hispanic and young.