Best PlacesMcAllen, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the McAllen metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Anthony Acosta, CC BY-SA 4.0, via geo
McAllen ranks 383rd of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on civic engagement and thin health care access. It does better on cell coverage, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the McAllen metro
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in McAllen
The towns and districts of the McAllen metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Edinburg
More adults hold degrees, health outcomes score higher, and local pay stretches further.
Mission & McAllen
Fewer households have young kids and heat risk is higher.
Hidalgo
Homes cost more and crime runs higher.
San Juan
Streets are more walkable, though it is noisier.
Pharr
Scores close to San Juan, except that schools score lower here.
Alton, Penitas & Sullivan City
Fewer homes sit empty.
Weslaco, Donna & Mercedes
Scores close to Alton, Penitas & Sullivan City, except that health care is easier to reach here.
Muniz
Biking is worse.
Nurillo, Edcouch & Elsa
Incomes run lower.
Scores across McAllen run from about the 1st to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
McAllen's strengths and weaknesses
McAllen ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Cell coverage, the weather, and low taxes carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: civic engagement, thin health care access, and education levels all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where McAllen ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 175 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$664 a month, better than 84% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of metro areas
Where McAllen ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- Household income$58,206 median, better than only 1% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 5% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in McAllen
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McAllen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,206, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses McAllen's effective rate of 1.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McAllen
McAllen runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McAllen.
Who works in McAllen, and how
Work in McAllen centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in McAllen
McAllen has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of McAllen and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is McAllen growing, and who is moving in?
McAllen has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Houston, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving McAllen go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in McAllen, month by month
McAllen sees roughly 175 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 62° | 52° |
| April | 90° | 77° | 69° |
| July | 99° | 87° | 78° |
| October | 90° | 78° | 69° |
Flying in and out of McAllen
The nearest airport, McAllen International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 228 miles away.
The best schools in and around McAllen
Schools across McAllen average a C−, better than 14% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Milam ElA− · 62% proficient
- Gonzalez ElB+ · 55% proficient
- Canterbury ElB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Texas Isd Preparatory AcademyA+ · 72% proficient
- Morris MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- B L Gray J HB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Achieve Early College H SA+ · 80% proficient
- South Texas Isd Science AcademyA · 70% proficient
- South Texas Isd Health ProfessionsA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McAllen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McAllen measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare McAllen against the other 386 metro areas.
Who McAllen suits
Retirees
The weather beats 94% of metro areas and it is quieter than 63%.
Common questions about living in McAllen
Is McAllen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McAllen ranks 383rd of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on cell coverage, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McAllen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,216. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $58,206 median income, cost of living beats 5% of metro areas.
Is McAllen safe?
McAllen is safer than 18% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $514 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in McAllen?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 52. That works out to about 175 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in McAllen?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Edinburg, Mission & McAllen, and Hidalgo. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is McAllen good for families?
Schools beat 14% of metro areas, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $664 a month.
Is McAllen good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 5% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 56% of metro areas. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare McAllen with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McAllen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McAllen represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
McAllen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McAllen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McAllen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McAllen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McAllen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McAllen detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.