Work & commute · McAllen

Work & commute in McAllen, TX

About one in 3 of McAllen’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Edinburg (13%), Mission (8%) and Pharr (8%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

37%

19,497 of 52,613 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 33,116 McAllen residents head out of town to work, 19,497 work right here, and 65,322 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in McAllen.

33,116live here, work elsewhere

19,497live and work here

65,322work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where McAllen goes to work

McAllen (in town)right here

37%19,497

Edinburg8.6 mi away

13%6,943

Mission5.1 mi away

8%4,369

Pharr5.3 mi away

8%4,111

Weslaco16.6 mi away

2%1,218

Houston301.5 mi away

2%1,106

San Antonio224.4 mi away

2%892

Brownsville50.2 mi away

2%830

Harlingen34.1 mi away

2%808

San Juan6.3 mi away

1%700

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%12,139

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far McAllen commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

70%

19%

70%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

McAllen is a job hub

1.61jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in McAllen are

84,819 jobs are based in McAllen. Here is what they are, next to the jobs McAllen’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in McAllen

84,819 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month39%

Jobs McAllen residents hold

52,613 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month48%

+16%

Jobs based in McAllen, 2013 → 2023: 73,355 → 84,819. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.