Pharr, Texas

Area Profile

80,333 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Pharr, in Hidalgo County.

53out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 31% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity3,308th of 4,199 cities measured42
SchoolsTop 34% of 4,162 cities measured62
GrowthTop 30% of 4,224 cities measured59
Housing affordabilityTop 14% of 4,218 cities measured80
Climate2,363rd of 4,225 cities measured69
Physical resilience3,478th of 4,226 cities measured23
Access3,547th of 4,226 cities measured75
Economic stability3,699th of 4,226 cities measured33
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 6.7% and the Opportunity signal places Pharr in the bottom 21%.

In the public schools here, 58% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.6 students for every teacher.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most cities measured: rent takes 27% of renter income and the median home is 1.9 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

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
Texas
Nearest major airport
HRL
34 mi · Valley Intl
Median home value
$121,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.7% — higher than in all but 5% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 34,655 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsHidalgo County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$50,5218th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftHidalgo County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$50,8688th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,5852024 ACS 5-Year$52,814Bottom 27%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3242024 ACS 5-Year$21,195Bottom 11%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.8%Bottom 12%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.5 minTop 28%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.8%Bottom 45%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.5%51st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202634,655Bottom 38%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.5%Top 7%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 26%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202637,15439th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.3%Bottom 43%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageMcAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$46,850Bottom 1%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageMcAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$35,830Bottom 1%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%75th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.7%Top 19%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20266.7%Bottom 5%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.5%44th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/079.45.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.7% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

58% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 46% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.6 students for every full-time teacher across 35 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
35
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
57.8%
Top 25% in Texas
Reading proficiency
45.9%
Top 49% in Texas
The 12 largest of 35 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Psja North Early College H SPHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD2,16614.667%38%
Vanguard Rembrandt · charterVANGUARD ACADEMY1,97816.854%56%
Psja Southwest Early College H SPHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD1,58812.676%37%
Vanguard Van Gogh · charterVANGUARD ACADEMY1,04818.1——
Lyndon B Johnson MiddlePHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD1,00614.445%34%
Idea College Preparatory Pharr · charterIDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS84819.351%53%
Dr William Long ElPHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD76718.362%49%
Liberty MiddlePHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD74212.040%30%
Aida C Escobar ElPHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD73517.562%53%
Idea Elsa Academy · charterIDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS71821.1——
Idea Academy Pharr · charterIDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS71723.143%39%
Idea Owassa Academy · charterIDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS69921.2——

92.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Texas’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 14% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 86.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area is up 55% over five years, and up 7.6% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,537 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.08% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,060, close to the $1,037 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,060 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $42,400 a year, about 80% of the median household income here of $52,814.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,037 a month.

A median home at $121,900 costs 1.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $63,674, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
86.1

Prices here run about 14% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
26.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,060
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,037
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$121,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Pharr’s median household income of $52,814, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area’s figure202386.1Top 1%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+7.6%98th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+54.5%89th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+92.9%51st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.9Top 29%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year59.1%19th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±9742024 ACS 5-Year27,08698th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$847Top 11%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,376Top 12%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,060Top 11%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$502024 ACS 5-Year$1,037Bottom 44%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,7152024 ACS 5-Year$121,90029th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2152024 ACS 5-Year$2,53766th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,3032024 ACS 5-Year$63,674Bottom 28%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.24%2024 ACS 5-Year2.08%94th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.9%Top 42%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3912024 ACS 5-Year1,43999th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%81st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.5%48th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4802024 ACS 5-Year3,20999th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

59/ 100
Top 30% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 the pace is easing: 81,142 residents in 2024, up 0.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 228 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 7% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Hidalgo County, which contains Pharr, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $50,521, close to the $50,868 of households that moved out.

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 47% 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. It has been rising for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
39%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$50,521
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$50,868
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Cameron County, TX 2,025 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Harris County, TX 1,046 people · 6.7% of arrivals
  3. Bexar County, TX 1,015 people · 6.5% of arrivals
  4. Starr County, TX 735 people · 4.7% of arrivals
  5. Travis County, TX 441 people · 2.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Cameron County, TX 1,785 people · 11% of departures
  2. Bexar County, TX 1,555 people · 9.5% of departures
  3. Harris County, TX 1,110 people · 6.8% of departures
  4. Travis County, TX 602 people · 3.7% of departures
  5. Starr County, TX 527 people · 3.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Hidalgo County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025451118
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.

Air quality measures a median index of 54, in the Moderate band, and about 24 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

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
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year872024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals22.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals53°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals99°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year242024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year542024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals27°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
54
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
87
90th percentile index
Days above 100
24
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

23 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and inland flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 41% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Cold waveHigh
HurricaneElevated
HailElevated
DroughtModerate
LightningModerate

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

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.

Violent crime
214
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,086
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Pharr's police department reported 214 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,086.

Hidalgo County records 3.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 5.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 4.1 per 100,000 residents in Hidalgo County.

Homicide
3.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
5.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
4.1
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
6.9
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Pharr’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Pharr (Hidalgo County) rather than Pharr itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Valley Intl at 34 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year88.3%Bottom 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle34 miBottom 24%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%Bottom 45%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
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 County145,38558McAllen vs Pharr
EdinburgHidalgo County104,55056Edinburg vs Pharr
MissionHidalgo County87,03856Mission vs Pharr
WeslacoHidalgo County42,22955
San JuanHidalgo County36,14951
AlamoHidalgo County20,25551
AltonHidalgo County20,21454
DonnaHidalgo County16,83342
MercedesHidalgo County16,73351
PalmviewHidalgo County15,92153
HidalgoHidalgo County14,49856
La HomaHidalgo County11,28550

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 EdinburgPharr vs San Juan

Moving to Pharr from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Pharr

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Pharr with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Pharr closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7857780,540$52,770$122,100—