City safety & data profile

HarlingenTX

Harlingen, TX is a 66K-resident city in Cameron County with a median household income of $53,645.

Cameron County, Texas. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Harlingen, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Harlingen has a population larger than 86% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $140,600, and 4 hospitals serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-16
66K
Population (place)
Top 14%
By size
$53,645
Median income (place)
$140,600
Median home (place)
25.1%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Harlingen

Harlingen posts a median household income higher than 13% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 4 hospitals serve the Harlingen area.

Bottom 14%
by median income, US cities
4
hospitals in & near Harlingen

Composite score · Harlingen, TX

20/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024

A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Violent crime F
344 /100k

FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share F
22.6%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Household income F
$53,645

Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Poverty rate F
25.1%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.

See the full national tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).

Where Harlingen income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$53,645 Bottom 13% higher than 13% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Harlingen $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

TX cities ranked by population

Population among 244 TX places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows By headcount, Houston ranks #1 here -- income honors go to Southlake.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Top earners by city in TX

Median household income across 244 tracked TX places. Hover a bar for its population rank.

median

What this shows Income honors go to Southlake here -- by headcount, that title belongs to Houston.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Harlingen, TX beyond the headline numbers

Harlingen sits inside Cameron County, Texas, at roughly 26.19°N, -97.70°W. Population 65,774, $53,645 median household income. Median home value $140,600, median rent $928. Poverty rate 25.1%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

4 hospitals in/around Harlingen, 3/5 avg rating, 2 with an ER. Climate: 75.6°F annual average, 28.3" precipitation.

Among the CDC measures on this page, lack of health insurance departs furthest from its peer median: 33.1% in Harlingen, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

25.1% of Harlingen, TX residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

Harlingen's median age is 33.4 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.

A typical renter in Harlingen, TX pays $928/month, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities -- rent here is not what strains a local paycheck.

Housing is inexpensive against local pay -- the median home in Harlingen runs about 2.6 years of median household income, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities.

22.6% of Harlingen adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the lowest quarter of reporting cities.

Remote work covers 10.4% of Harlingen workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.

Unemployment in Harlingen sits at 5.2%, above the midpoint of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Harlingen from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Cameron County): Harlingen's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
426K+4%
Median Income
$52,601+59%
Median Home Value
$136,500+74%
Poverty Rate
24.8%-29%
Unemployment
5.9%-44%

The Economic Picture

What stands out most about Harlingen's economic profile: poverty rate at 25.1%, 102% above the average across tracked places. Median rent also diverges: $928/mo, 40% below average.

Economics indicators for Harlingen, TX
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$928/mo
Poverty Rate
25.1% +102% vs avg
Unemployment 5.2%
Bachelor's Degree+ 22.6%
Work From Home 10.4%
Public Transit 0.3%

Population

White 43.6%
African American 1.7%
Asian 1%

Community Health 15 measures

Health Indicators

Obesity
40.1%
Short Sleep Duration
39.3%
Physical Inactivity
36.2%
High Blood Pressure
35.6%
Lack of Health Insurance
33.1%
Diabetes
18.6%
Frequent Mental Distress
16.4%
Frequent Physical Distress
16.4%
Binge Drinking
15.1%
Current Smoking
13.3%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 49.9%
Annual Checkup 73%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
8.9%
Coronary Heart Disease
7.6%
Stroke
4.2%

Local Hospitals 4 total

CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
1
★★★
0
★★
1
★
0
Average Rating
3/5
Total Hospitals
4
With ER
2
HARLINGEN MEDICAL CENTER
HARLINGEN · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★★☆
VHS HARLINGEN HOSPITAL COMPANY LLC
HARLINGEN · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★☆☆☆

Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 Normals
Avg Temperature
76°F
Annual Rainfall
28.3"
Hot Months (>80°F)
8
Cold Months (<40°F)
0
72°
51°
Jan
1.2"
76°
55°
Feb
1.2"
81°
60°
Mar
1.5"
86°
66°
Apr
2.3"
91°
72°
May
2.7"
95°
76°
Jun
2.4"
97°
77°
Jul
2.4"
98°
77°
Aug
2.1"
93°
74°
Sep
5.8"
88°
67°
Oct
3.1"
80°
59°
Nov
2.0"
73°
53°
Dec
1.6"

Cost of Living

BEA 2024
86.0 Regional Price Parity

14.0% below national average

US avg
86.0

Metro area: Brownsville-Harlingen, TX (MSA)

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.

NFIP Flood Claim History

FEMA NFIP, county-level
2,375
Claims filed
$135.5M
Total paid out
X
Most common flood zone

Since 2016, NFIP has paid out $135.5M across 2,375 flood insurance claims filed in Cameron County.

151 claims trace back to Hurricane Hanna, the biggest named event in the county's flood-claim history.

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.

What alerts and safety updates affect Harlingen?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Harlingen right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet TX-HARLINGEN · Harlingen

Harlingen: no area-tagged alerts on record. State hubs carry the live CAP stream.

  • FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
  • LEAD-NONE Feed idle
  • DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed

Counts reflect published articles tagged to Harlingen; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Texas state hubs · Methodology

Related reading

Tracking Safety Alerts in Your Area

How Areazine tags Harlingen in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Common Questions 9

What is the population of Harlingen, TX? ▼
Harlingen, TX has a population of 65,774 people, located in Cameron County, Texas.
What is the median household income in Harlingen? ▼
The median household income in Harlingen, TX is $53,645 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 25.1%.
What is the median home value in Harlingen? ▼
The median home value in Harlingen, TX is $140,600. Median rent is $928/month.
What are the top health concerns in Harlingen? ▼
The top health indicators in Harlingen include Obesity (40.1%), Short Sleep Duration (39.3%), Physical Inactivity (36.2%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Harlingen? ▼
Harlingen has 4 hospitals with an average rating of 3/5 stars. 2 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Harlingen? ▼
The median age in Harlingen, TX is 33.4 years. 22.6% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.
What is the climate like in Harlingen? ▼
Harlingen has an average annual temperature of 75.6°F and 28.3" of annual precipitation.
What is the cost of living in Harlingen? ▼
The regional price parity for Harlingen is 85.975, meaning prices are 14.0% below the national average.
How many flood insurance claims has Cameron County filed? ▼
Cameron County, Texas has recorded 2,375 NFIP flood insurance claims since 2016, totaling $135.5M in payouts. This is county-level data: FEMA does not attribute individual claims to a specific city.

Comparable cities by poverty or income, nationwide 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Harlingen, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside TX (25.1% here).

Tuscaloosa, AL 25.1% Moscow, ID 25.1% Pleasantville, NJ 25.1% Cumberland, MD 25.1%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside TX ($53,645 here).

Vincennes, IN $53,637 Pleasantville, NJ $53,661 Holyoke, MA $53,605 Roanoke Rapids, NC $53,690

Compare Harlingen with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Cities Close By 8

San Benito, TX 24K Mercedes, TX 17K Weslaco, TX 39K Raymondville, TX 11K Brownsville, TX 187K Donna, TX 17K Alamo, TX 19K San Juan, TX 37K
All cities in Texas → Compare Harlingen vs San Benito → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Turning this into a research checklist

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Harlingen area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Income and poverty rate tell different stories, two places sharing a median can still diverge sharply on poverty.
  • Compare Harlingen against Texas peers on any ranking lens. Explore Texas

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Cameron County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.