78550 — Harlingen, Texas
Area Profile
Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 78550.
Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 6.5% and the Opportunity signal places 78550 in the bottom 7%.
Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, cold wave and hail.
A major airport is 2 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 6.5% is lower than 5% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.
Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 29,635 employed residents.
Median household income of $49,007 is below 86% of measured US ZIP areas.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$2,670 | $49,007 | Bottom 14% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,450 | $25,915 | Bottom 15% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 24.4% | Top 12% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 19.6 min | Bottom 12% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 22.0% | Bottom 46% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 29,635 | Bottom 31% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | -0.0% | Bottom 49% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -0.8% | Bottom 49% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 31,681 | Bottom 32% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 58.4% | Bottom 42% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $47,110 | Bottom 1% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $36,490 | Bottom 1% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 1.2% | Top 2% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.5% | Top 5% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 21,990 | $23,500 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 6,570 | $22,500 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 4,880 | $38,350 |
| Retail Salespersons | 3,820 | $27,780 |
| General and Operations Managers | 3,440 | $75,350 |
| Cashiers | 3,420 | $26,250 |
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Harlingen, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.
Schools
How it’s calculated →25% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 35% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 14.6 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HARLINGEN H S | HARLINGEN CISD | 2,433 | 14.6 | — | — |
| TREASURE HILLS EL | HARLINGEN CISD | 758 | 15.5 | 23% | 39% |
| LEE H MEANS EL | HARLINGEN CISD | 730 | 16.6 | 44% | 51% |
| MEMORIAL MIDDLE | HARLINGEN CISD | 705 | 12.4 | 27% | 37% |
| COAKLEY MIDDLE | HARLINGEN CISD | 687 | 12.7 | 27% | 37% |
| VERNON MIDDLE | HARLINGEN CISD | 631 | 10.9 | 17% | 27% |
| STUART PLACE EL | HARLINGEN CISD | 578 | 16.5 | 29% | 40% |
| BONHAM EL | HARLINGEN CISD | 504 | 16.8 | 19% | 29% |
| LONG EL | HARLINGEN CISD | 475 | 14.4 | 30% | 29% |
| HARLINGEN SCHOOL OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS | HARLINGEN CISD | 448 | 12.8 | 57% | 77% |
| HOUSTON EL | HARLINGEN CISD | 420 | 15.0 | 12% | 25% |
| LAMAR EL | HARLINGEN CISD | 401 | 14.3 | 12% | 21% |
78.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Texas’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $900 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 2.7 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 2.68 | Bottom 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 50.5% | Bottom 9% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±674 | 22,468 | Top 2% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$39 | $900 | Bottom 37% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$9,409 | $131,100 | Bottom 21% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 22.0% | Top 25% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 12.2% | Top 46% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
New construction is predominantly single-family: only 17% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.
At 4.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.
The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Harlingen, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 96°F and January a low of 50°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 24.0 inches.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 24.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 50°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 96°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 26°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and hail.
Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, ice storm, inland flooding, strong wind, winter weather, tornado, wildfire, drought, coastal flooding, earthquake, landslide.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Crime
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
- Taxes
- No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Full cost of living
- No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.
Access
1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 2 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Intl | HRL | 2 mi | 9,400 ft |
| Laredo Intl | LRD | 142 mi | 8,743 ft |
| Victoria Rgnl | VCT | 185 mi | 9,111 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Similar places
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school year | Directory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them |
Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.
78550 vs Harlingen
How this ZIP area compares with Harlingen as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.
Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.