McAllen is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Texas. With a population of 144,579 people and 50 associated neighborhoods, McAllen is the 23rd largest community in Texas.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 9.49% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

The overall education level of McAllen citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 31.75% of adults in McAllen have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.

The per capita income in McAllen in 2022 was $27,533, which is middle income relative to Texas, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $110,132 for a family of four. However, McAllen contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

McAllen is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call McAllen home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in McAllen, accounting for 87.03% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of McAllen residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in McAllen include German, English, Irish, French, and Italian.

Foreign born people are also an important part of McAllen's cultural character, accounting for 25.32% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in McAllen is Spanish. Other important languages spoken here include English and Tagalog.