According to a recent Kiplinger report, McAllen, TX ranks as a No. 4 on the list of least expensive cities to live. The report indicates that the cost of Living Index: 86.5 and the McAllen/Edinburg MSA Population is 706,039. The median household income is $28,328 and the average home price is $213,383.
To read the report, click here
And the article starts:
“They say everything in Texas is big, and that sure goes for its stature in business.”
A recent study from CNBC ranked Texas the No. 1 state in the United States for business based:
* Cost of Doing Business, Workforce, Quality of Life, Economy, Transportation & Infrastructure,
Technology & Innovation, Education, Business Friendliness, Access to Capital and Cost of Living.
Texas received the highest amount of points ever. This is great news for McAllen. McAllen offers a competitive, low-cost business model that allows companies to have a strategic global location and direct access to the North American and Latin American markets.
View the full report here
According to the MetroMonitor released by the Brookings Institute, McAllen, like many other Texas cities, has made the Top 20 list for Recession-Proof Cities.
A researcher at the Institute said this of the cities: “Most of these cities have some general characteristics in common,” said Howard Weil, author of the report and a fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program. “They didn’t experience huge housing bubbles followed by a crash, and their economies weren’t rooted in the auto industry.”
Despite the global economic recession, McAllen did not suffer from extensive job loss and the McAllen EDC currently is working with about 25 projects and already have committed several companies this year in McAllen and Reynosa, MX.
Click here to read the full story.
McAllen, TX ranked No. 11 in the United States for beating the recession, according to the June 2010 MetroMonitor released by the Brookings Institute. The report indicates: “Of all the cities in the ranking, McAllen has experienced the longest period of job growth, gaining jobs over the last four quarters.”
To read the article, click here.
Based on the low costs of doing business and business’ ability to compete on the global scale, Mexico ranked No. 1 in overall competitiveness according to a recent report released by KPMG. This organization is a “global network of professionals in the audit, tax and advisory business. The study found that Mexico represents the lowest cost country for companies. The McAllen Economic Development Corporation has a team of industrial specialists focused on recruiting and expanding manufacturing, warehousing, logistics operations in Mexico, specifically Reynosa.
For the U.S., KPMG ranked McAllen as the most competitive city in the United States and Canada, based on low cost of business. There are hundreds of companies on the U.S. side that supply the manufacturing sector in Reynosa, Mexico. Click here to read the full report.
After an a study conducted by the Associated Press, it was found that cities along the U.S.-Mexico are actually one of the safest in the country despite the negative perception at the national level. McAllen, TX has one of the lowest violent crimes rates and contines to emerge as a urban metro area in South Texas.
See the full story here.
McAllen has grown more than 2,000 jobs since this time last year indicating that the city’s economy remains robust, is still expanding and is reflective of the lowest unemployment rate in the region, according to a Texas Workforce Commission report.
The report, which released the latest job market numbers for cities and counties in Texas from April 2010, shows McAllen’s unemployment rate has dropped three of the first four months this year. McAllen’s 7.7 percent unemployment rate is the lowest this year (from 8.1 in January).
And the city keeps growing jobs. The 59,255 people employed in McAllen in April 2o10 are believed to be the most in city’s history and are 2,018 more than April 2009 – and 805 more than in March of this year. The numbers are consistent with over all state growth as Texas added 32,500 non-agricultural jobs in April.
McAllen’s 7.7 city unemployment rate is lower than all major Rio Grande Valley municipalities and lower than other major cities such as Houston (8.3), Laredo (8.4), Fort Worth (8.5), El Paso (8.6), Dallas (8.7), and Beaumont (9.6).
Hidalgo County, which has the highest unemployment rate among metro areas in Texas at 11.1 percent, also grew jobs and dropped its unemployment rate for the fourth month in a row (12.2 in January). Hidalgo County has about 9,400 more people working than it did in April of 2009.
Texas’ unemployment rate rose slightly in April to 8.3 percent. The national unemployment rate is 9.9 percent.
According to Forbes, McAllen is one of several Texas cities that topped the list for U.S. metros that have survived the recession and continue to grow.
The report reads: “…Like the rest of the metro areas in Texas, McAllen is showing promise for the future. Employment growth has happened even during the recession, reports PayScale, and there is demand for technology and business professionals. Service industries are also doing reasonably well in McAllen.”
This is one of numerous rankings that McAllen recently has received for its strong and resilient economy. Click here to see the latest rankings.
To see the full list of cities that survived the recession, click here
From BusinessWire-Outlook is good for the City of McAllen.
AUSTIN, Texas – (Business Wire) Fitch Ratings assigns an ‘AA+’ rating to the following McAllen, Texas’ limited tax obligations:$30 million combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation (COs), series 2010; $3.5 million outstanding tax notes, series 2006.The COs are expected to sell via negotiation on May 6, 2010. The Rating Outlook is Stable.
RATING RATIONALE:The city’s sound financial management practices and policies have enabled it to maintain solid fund balance reserves, while investing heavily in pay-as-you-go capital improvements.Dependence upon economically sensitive sales tax revenues, particularly from the retail sector, including the activity generated by shoppers from Mexico, is substantially mitigated by strong fund balances and a relatively low property tax rate. Direct tax supported debt is minimal and future borrowing needs are modest as the city has historically relied on capital reserves for maintenance and acquisition of capital assets. Commercial trade with Mexico and health care are sectors both locally and within the region that have grown to diversify the historically agricultural and tourism-based economy.
To read more, click here.
RelocateAmerica.com recently ranked McAllen as one of the top 10 cities to live in during 2010. This is from the description:
McAllen is moving in the right direction. As one of RelocateAmerica’s Best Recovery Cities for 2010, it is nothing short of a success story. Economically, McAllen has one of most stable and fastest growing local economies in the United States Job growth is a reality in this southern Texas community. As a major international trade area between US and Mexico, this border town has a growing employment segment in education, health care and government. Additionally, McAllen also has one of the best real estate markets in the United States.
This is one of several rankings that the McAllen MSA has received in recent months. These rankings speak to the resiliency and sustainability of the local economy.
For the full report from RelocateAmerica.com, click here