Welcome to McAllen

Dear Partners:

As the Mayor of the City of McAllen and on behalf of my colleagues on the City Commission and citizens of our City, I invite you to come do business in McAllen. McAllen is a thriving, pro-business community with a dynamic culture; multifaceted quality-of-life venues; and a regional and international retail landscape as lucrative as it is diverse.

Centrally located in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, the City of McAllen is four miles from the U.S.–Mexico border and provides a direct connection between U.S. and international markets. McAllen’s strategic investment in infrastructure for existing and emerging industries will support your business and entrepreneurial initiatives for domestic and international markets.

Known as the “City of Palms,” McAllen hosts a consumer base of 10.3 million shoppers and holds among the highest retail sales per household in the state of Texas, and twice the national average. As the largest city in Hidalgo County with a population of 133,742, a three percent increase from 2010, the City facilitates collaboration and economic development in the Valley and is part of the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area that also includes the cities of Edinburg, Hidalgo, Mission and Pharr, Texas.

McAllen is characterized by a young, bilingual, educated and growing workforce eager to grow your business. The percentage of the City’s general population holding a bachelor’s degree or higher is 27.8 percent, surpassing the state average of 26 percent. Much of McAllen’s workforce has received a formal education at one of our local colleges or universities with careers in business, healthcare, retail, and the food service industries. With one of the fastest-growing employment rates in the nation, McAllen ranked as the 13th largest retail market in the state, according to the 2013 Texas Retail Survey.

McAllen’s forward thinking regarding its planning and development process led to its certification as a Scenic City by Scenic Texas, an organization which recognizes innovative and conscious planning by municipalities. Additionally, as a certified Playful City by the KaBoom! Organization, McAllen offers unprecedented green space for visitors and citizens to enjoy.

The City of McAllen offers a professional Development team eager to facilitate collaboration in the sustainable expansion of your business. Through incentives for qualifying projects, we are prepared to offer your business the best return on investment possible.

Again, we invite you to visit and come do business in McAllen.

Sincerely,

James “Jim” Darling