County Hidalgo County, Texas - Population, Income & Demographics

The median income of households in Hidalgo County, Texas was $52,281. An estimated 7.4% of households had income below $10,000 a year and 4.4% had income of $200,000 or more.

An estimated 80.3% of households received earnings. An estimated 26.8% of households received Social Security and an estimated 14.9 % of households received retirement income other than Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $17,341. These income sources are not mutually exclusive; that is, some households received income from more than one source.

In 2019-2023, 27.2 % of people were in poverty. An estimated 37.1% of children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 22.9% of people 65 years old and over. An estimated 22.6% of people 18 to 64 years were below the poverty level.

In 2019-2023, 28.2 % of households received SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). An estimated 65.7% of households that received SNAP had children under 18, and 34.9% of households that received SNAP had one or more people 60 years and over. An estimated 33.9% of all households receiving SNAP were families with a female householder and no spouse present.

Among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in Hidalgo County, Texas in 2019-2023, 70.3% had health insurance coverage and 29.7% did not have health insurance coverage. Private coverage was 37.7% and public coverage was 37.5%, respectively. The percentage of children under the age of 19 with no health insurance coverage was 15.7%.

In 2019-2023, Hidalgo County, Texas had a total population of 880,921 - 446,137 (50.6%) females and 434,784 (49.4%) males. The median age was 30.3 years. An estimated 31.4% of the population was under 18 years, 33.6% was 19 to 44 years, 20% was 45 to 64 years, and 11.5 % was 65 years and older.

In 2019-2023, there were 264,128 households in Hidalgo County, Texas. The average household size was 3.3 people.

Married-couple households made up 51.7% of the households in Hidalgo County, Texas while cohabiting couple households made up 5.5% of households. Female householders with no spouse or partner present were 28.5% of all households, while 14.3% of households had male householders with no spouse or partner present. Some households had one person, as 8.6% of households were male householders living alone, and 9.9% were female householders living alone, for a total of 18.5% of all households.

In Hidalgo County, Texas, 45.4% of all households had one or more people under the age of 18; 27.6% of all households had one or more people 65 years and over.

In 2019-2023, an estimated 74% of the people living in Hidalgo County, Texas were U.S. natives. 64.2% of the Hidalgo County, Texas population were living in the state where they were born.

Approximately 26% of Hidalgo County, Texas residents in 2019-2023 were foreign-born. 31.7% of foreign-born were naturalized U.S. citizens and an estimated 78.6 % entered the country before the year 2010.

Foreign-born residents of Hidalgo County, Texas come from different parts of the world. The bar graph below displays the percentage of foreign-born from each world region of birth in 2019-2023 for Hidalgo County, Texas.

Among people at least five years old living in Hidalgo County, Texas in 2019-2023, 80.4 % spoke a language other than English at home. Spanish was spoken by 79.3% of people at least five years old; 29.8% reported that they did not speak English "very well."

In 2019-2023, 90.4 % of the people at least one year old living in Hidalgo County, Texas were living in the same house one year earlier.

In 2019-2023, 69.3 % of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 20.3% had a bachelor's degree or higher. An estimated 30.6% did not complete high school.

The total school enrollment in Hidalgo County, Texas was 274,115 in 2019-2023. Nursery school enrollment was 13,553 and kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment was 206,596. College or graduate school enrollment was 53,966.

In Hidalgo County, Texas, among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in 2019-2023, 12.5 % reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 5.5% of people under 18 years old, to 9.7% of people 18 to 64 years old, and to 45.5% of those 65 and over.

In Hidalgo County, Texas, 54.1 % of the population 16 and over were employed; 41.3% were not currently in the labor force.

An estimated 71.6% of the people employed were private wage and salary workers; 16.7% were federal, state, or local government workers; and 11.5 % were self-employed in their own (not incorporated) business.

In 2019-2023, the civilian employed population 16 years and older in Hidalgo County, Texas worked in the following industries:

An estimated 75.8% of Hidalgo County, Texas workers drove to work alone in 2019-2023, and 10.3% carpooled. Among those who commuted to work, it took them on average 22.9 minutes to get to work.

In 2019-2023, Hidalgo County, Texas had a total of 302,173 housing units. Of these housing units, 66.9% were single-family houses either not attached to any other structure or attached to one or more structures (commonly referred to as "townhouses" or "row houses"). 18.1% of the housing units were located in multi-unit structures, or those buildings that contained two or more apartments. 14.4% were mobile homes, while any remaining housing units were classified as "other," which included boats, recreational vehicles, vans, etc.

19.6% of the housing inventory was comprised of houses built since 2010, while 1.1% of the houses were first built in 1939 or earlier. The median number of rooms in all housing units in Hidalgo County, Texas was 4.9 rooms, and of these housing units 61.1% had three or more bedrooms.

In 2019-2023, Hidalgo County, Texas had 264,128 housing units that were occupied or had people living in them, while the remaining 38,045 were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, the percentage of these houses occupied by owners (also known as the homeownership rate) was 67.6% while renters occupied 32.4%. The average household size of owner-occupied houses was 3.45 and in renter-occupied houses it was 3.

10.2% of householders of these occupied houses had moved into their house since 2021, while 9.1% moved into their house in 1989 or earlier. Households without a vehicle available for personal use comprised 5.5% and another 24.7% had three or more vehicles available for use.

The following chart provides the primary fuel used to heat houses in Hidalgo County, Texas:

In 2019-2023, the median property value for owner-occupied houses in Hidalgo County, Texas was $124,000.

Of the owner-occupied households, 40.2 % had a mortgage. 59.8% owned their houses "free and clear," that is without a primary mortgage or loan on the house. The median monthly housing costs for owners with a mortgage was $1,413 and for owners without a mortgage it was $459.

For renter-occupied houses, the median gross rent for Hidalgo County, Texas was $925. Gross rent includes the monthly contract rent and any monthly payments made for electricity, gas, water and sewer, and any other fuels to heat the house.