AreaProfile

Pharr, Texas

Area Profile

80,333 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Pharr, in Hidalgo County.

53
Area Score
Bottom 18% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1289th of 1,567 published cities41
GrowthTop 38% of 1,503 published cities57
Housing affordabilityTop 31% of 1,876 published cities87
Climate1037th of 1,876 published cities69
Physical resilience1465th of 1,849 published cities23
Access1633rd of 1,876 published cities75
Economic stability1707th of 1,876 published cities35
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 7.2% and the Opportunity signal places Pharr in the bottom 18%.

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

Its Area Score of 53 places Pharr in the top 82% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
80,333
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,814
Bottom 27% nationally
Density
3,324/sq mi
24.2 sq mi of land
Median age
29.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Hidalgo County
Texas
Metro area
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
Nearest major airport
HRL
34 mi · Valley Intl
Median home value
$121,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 7.2% is lower than 3% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 34,490 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,585$52,814Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,324$21,195Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate27.6%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.5 minBottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher18.8%Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment34,490Top 35%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)3.1%Top 15%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.1%Top 23%June 2026
Labor force37,182Top 34%June 2026
Labor force participation61.9%Top 45%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)0.1%Top 44%June 2026
Unemployment rate7.2%Top 3%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/06105.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 7.2% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202453k40k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $52,814 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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,037 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.3 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,037
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$121,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.31Bottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate59.1%Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±97427,086Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$50$1,037Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,715$121,900Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.6%Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.8%Top 43%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
57/ 100
Top 38% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 2 consecutive years, 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 2% since 2020, reaching 81,142 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 7% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
228
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.8
Top 48% nationally
Year over year
+16%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
6.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202481k80k
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
20202022202320242025345118
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+54%).

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, 4.0 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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 34 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Valley IntlHRL34 mi9,400 ft
Laredo IntlLRD123 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
53
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Other cities in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
McAllenHidalgo County145,38559vs Pharr
EdinburgHidalgo County104,55058vs Pharr
MissionHidalgo County87,03857vs Pharr
WeslacoHidalgo County42,22960vs Pharr
San JuanHidalgo County36,14956vs Pharr

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 Pharr side by side with a similar place.

Pharr vs San JuanPharr vs EdinburgPharr vs HarlingenPharr vs Houma

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 29, 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.

ZIP codes in Pharr

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7857780,540$52,77052