Palmview, Texas

Area Profile

15,921 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Palmview, in Hidalgo County.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 31% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3433rd of 3,904 published cities36
GrowthTop 5% of 2,973 published cities80
Housing affordabilityTop 11% of 4,223 published cities99
Climate2368th of 4,223 published cities69
Physical resilience3438th of 4,182 published cities23
Access3773rd of 4,226 published cities68
Economic stability4170th of 4,226 published cities19
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 7.0% and the Opportunity signal places Palmview in the bottom 12%.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 155 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 131% on the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, cold wave and hail.

At a glance

Population
15,921
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$43,963
Bottom 15% nationally
Density
2,101/sq mi
7.6 sq mi of land
Median age
38.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Hidalgo County
Texas
Metro area
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
Nearest major airport
HRL
45 mi · Valley Intl
Median home value
$113,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 7.0% is lower than 3% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 378,457 employed residents.

Median household income of $43,963 is below 85% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$12,140$43,963Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,444$20,918Bottom 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate30.8%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute21.9 minBottom 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher13.0%Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment378,457Top 19%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)4.0%Top 9%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.1%Top 28%June 2026
Labor force407,159Top 19%June 2026
Labor force participation50.0%Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$46,850Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$35,830Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.4%Top 32%June 2026
Unemployment rate7.0%Top 3%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202446k41k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $43,963 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides46,380$23,960
Fast Food and Counter Workers12,160$22,790
Retail Salespersons8,960$27,420
Customer Service Representatives8,270$35,830
Cashiers7,000$27,020
General and Operations Managers6,480$74,570

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 publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Hidalgo County, TX, which contains this city.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $678 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.6 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
18.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$678
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$113,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.58Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate76.2%Top 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4535,940Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$74$678Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$23,361$113,600Bottom 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.5%Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.4%Top 31%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 →
Development Momentum
80/ 100
Top 5% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 16,030 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 9.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
155
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.7
Top 14% nationally
Year over year
+131%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202416k16k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202220232024202511439
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+171%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 99°F and January a low of 53°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 22.2 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MCALLEN MILLER INTL AP, 8.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation22.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low53°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high99°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing27°F1991-2020 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

23 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and hail.

Cold waveHigh
HurricaneElevated
HailElevated
DroughtModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, ice storm, inland flooding, tornado, winter weather, strong wind, wildfire, earthquake, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. 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 45 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Valley IntlHRL45 mi9,400 ft
Laredo IntlLRD112 mi8,743 ft
Victoria RgnlVCT202 mi9,111 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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Area Score
55
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Other cities in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
McAllenHidalgo County145,38558vs Palmview
EdinburgHidalgo County104,55055vs Palmview
MissionHidalgo County87,03853vs Palmview
PharrHidalgo County80,33348vs Palmview
WeslacoHidalgo County42,22955vs Palmview
San JuanHidalgo County36,14950vs Palmview
AlamoHidalgo County20,25550vs Palmview
AltonHidalgo County20,21450vs Palmview
DonnaHidalgo County16,83344vs Palmview
MercedesHidalgo County16,73351vs Palmview
HidalgoHidalgo County14,49861vs Palmview
La HomaHidalgo County11,285vs Palmview

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Palmview side by side with a similar place.

Palmview vs La HomaPalmview vs MercedesPalmview vs AltonPalmview vs Alamo

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

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.