78542 Zip Code Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for the zip code 78542, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

78542 is a zip code in Hidalgo County, Texas, which covers Edcouch-Elsa CCD, Edinburg CCD, McAllen-Pharr CCD, and Puerto Rico-San Manuel, with a total population of 84,606 people.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in the 78542 zip code. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in 78542.

The estimated population of people living in 78542 is 84,606, with a median age of 26.3.

We can look back at data from previous years to see how the population in the 78542 area has changed over the last 5 years.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
84,606
+4.66%
+11.59%
2020
80,837
+4.53%
-
2019
77,336
+2.34%
-
2018
75,569
 -0.33% -
2017
75,822
 - -

Population of 78542 by Race and Ethnicity

How much has the race and ethnicity of the population in the 78542 zip code changed? The US Census Bureau gives us a few defined types that the population is broken down into.

Let's look at the total numbers and also the change over the last 5 years.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
3.9%
4.7%
 -17.02%
Black/African American
0.8%
1.3%
 -38.46%
Native
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Hispanic
94.8%
93.4%
 +1.50%
Asian
0.1%
0.3%
 -66.67%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.1%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
0.2%
0.2%
 0.00%
Other
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for anybody studying the 78542 zip for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of 78542 by Age and Gender

We can also monitor the change of the age and gender in the 78542 zip code to track track trends in the population over time.

We can see how the population in 78542 has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 26.3 +3.14% 26.4 +3.94% 26.3 +3.14%
2020 25.5 -4.14% 25.4 -4.87% 25.5 -3.77%
2019 26.6 +1.92% 26.7 +1.14% 26.5 +3.52%
2018 26.1 -0.76% 26.4 -2.94% 25.6 +1.59%
2017 26.3 - 27.2 - 25.2 -

The median age of the 78542 zip gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population in the 78542 area, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 7,313 +18.51% 8,278 -3.39% 8,690 7,929
10 to 19 7,127 +13.5% 7,264 +13.03% 8,130 8,239
20 to 29 6,669 +13.5% 5,609 +19.75% 7,602 6,741
30 to 39 5,763 +6.12% 5,175 +4.07% 6,115 5,377
40 to 49 5,479 +0.79% 4,380 +15.44% 5,493 5,077
50 to 59 3,135 +30.14% 3,429 +6.91% 4,145 3,617
60 to 69 2,053 -4.57% 1,877 +13.2% 1,928 2,126
70+ 986 +35.02% 1,285 +52.04% 1,307 2,090

Median Household Income

The latest median household income for the 78542 zip code is $49,985.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less.

The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for 78542.

  • Under 25
    $37,425.00
  • 25 to 44
    $50,971.00
  • 45 to 64
    $57,198.00
  • 65 and over
    $24,588.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in the 78542 zip code, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in 78542, and then dividing that number by the total number of households.

This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of 78542 is currently $63,303.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

1.52% of households in 78542 are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of 78542 against other zip codes.

  • Less than $24,999
    26.94%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    23.07%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.94%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    11.91%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    14.15%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    4.46%
  • $200,000 or more
    1.52%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in 78542 is $16,593.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of 78542 by the total population of 78542.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people living in the 78542 area, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in 78542 to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    5.13%
  • Bachelor's degree
    24.55%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    9.95%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    54.93%
  • Less than high school diploma
    5.45%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in 78542 that are over the age of 16.

Currently, the total population of the 78542 zip over the age of 16 is 57,432.

Of those people, a total of 57.60% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in 78542 is 52.40%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate. Here's how that breaks down for the 78542 zip code.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 5,814 20.20% 17.80%
20 to 24 years 7,556 60.10% 11.40%
25 to 29 years 6,787 66.50% 7.80%
30 to 34 years 5,725 68.30% 15.30%
35 to 44 years 11,881 68.10% 8.70%
45 to 54 years 9,043 73.00% 6.90%
55 to 59 years 3,175 79.50% 3.60%
60 to 64 years 2,405 48.00% 6.10%
65 to 74 years 2,910 18.30% 0.00%
75 years and over 2,136 1.40% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in 78542. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau (which we mentioned earlier in this article).

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 36,066 59.90% 7.20%
Black or African American 673 5.30% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 86 58.10% 0.00%
Asian 50 100.00% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 64 42.20% 0.00%
Other 3,877 42.70% 8.90%
Two or more races 16,616 58.00% 13.40%
Hispanic or Latino 53,790 59.50% 9.10%
Not Hispanic or Latino 2,623 31.70% 8.90%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations for people living in the 78542 area as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in 78542 is 30,073, with median earnings of $27,177.00.

Women in 78542 are earning approximately 66.20% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 30,073 $27,177.00
Male 16,772 $33,044.00
Female 13,301 $21,890.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings for 78542 even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 1,312 $43,786.00
Business and Financial 779 $51,017.00
Computer and Mathematical 231 $34,154.00
Architecture and Engineering 111 $103,180.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 87 $73,607.00
Community and Social Service 217 $39,529.00
Legal 151 $39,951.00
Educational and Library 2,081 $53,815.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 262 $60,913.00
Healthcare Practitioners 1,142 $49,430.00
Healthcare Support 2,435 $16,156.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 237 $15,163.00
Law Enforcement 658 $53,184.00
Food Preparation and Serving 1,277 $13,658.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 2,386 $16,691.00
Personal Care and Service 359 $11,927.00
Sales 4,527 $17,092.00
Office and Administrative Support 2,970 $26,148.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 407 $13,768.00
Construction and Extraction 3,668 $30,723.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 990 $27,284.00
Production 1,357 $51,107.00
Transportation and Material Moving 1,680 $41,339.00

Occupations by Gender

Now we can also look at the occupations by category for 78542 when it is broken down by male and female.

This lets us see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings for 78542.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 944 $43,905.00 368 $41,842.00
Business and Financial 439 $55,129.00 340 $50,260.00
Computer and Mathematical 231 $34,154.00 0 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 111 $103,180.00 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 66 $73,143.00 21 $0.00
Community and Social Service 61 $30,083.00 156 $40,203.00
Legal 104 $57,917.00 47 $0.00
Educational and Library 661 $56,343.00 1,420 $52,855.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 96 $82,821.00 166 $52,500.00
Healthcare Practitioners 468 $52,742.00 674 $49,095.00
Healthcare Support 258 $16,154.00 2,177 $16,157.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 209 $12,917.00 28 $0.00
Law Enforcement 461 $54,536.00 197 $52,518.00
Food Preparation and Serving 498 $16,696.00 779 $13,438.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 1,409 $16,677.00 977 $17,534.00
Personal Care and Service 0 $0.00 359 $11,927.00
Sales 2,017 $20,917.00 2,510 $16,501.00
Office and Administrative Support 621 $27,029.00 2,349 $25,930.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 270 $20,269.00 137 $5,993.00
Construction and Extraction 3,484 $31,287.00 184 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 868 $41,581.00 122 $9,861.00
Production 1,219 $60,280.00 138 $19,643.00
Transportation and Material Moving 1,582 $42,982.00 98 $10,978.00

Households and Family Size

A household is defined by the US Census Bureau as a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 21,034 households in 78542, with an average household size of 3.82 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 17,496 families living in the 78542 zip code with an average family size of 4.25 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each, that live in 78542:

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 12,189 1,061 4,246 3,538
Average Household Size 4.42 3.83 4.21 1.28
Total Families 12,189 1,061 4,246 0
Average Household Size 4.41 3.28 4.04 0

Poverty

Of the 17,496 families living in 78542, 25.00% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in 78542:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 23,369 housing units in 78542.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 21,034 90.01%
Vacant 2,335 9.99%

16.15% of the total 23,369 housing units in 78542 are rental units. This is approximately 3,773 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 15,920 are occupied by the owner - or 68.12% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in 78542 is $785.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in 78542 that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    1,341
  • Less than $500
    777
  • $500 to $999
    2,212
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    689
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    69
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    26
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    0
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in 78542 is $89,700.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in 78542 that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    3,904
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    4,817
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    2,669
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    2,450
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    1,374
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    503
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    58
  • $1,000,000 or more
    145

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in 78542. The chart below shows the number of properties in 78542 that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    50
  • 1940 to 1949
    336
  • 1950 to 1959
    293
  • 1960 to 1969
    558
  • 1970 to 1979
    1,138
  • 1980 to 1989
    2,648
  • 1990 to 1999
    5,678
  • 2000 to 2009
    6,922
  • 2010 to 2013
    5,692
  • 2014 or later
    54

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in 78542 that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    1,047
  • 1 vehicle available
    5,391
  • 2 vehicles available
    9,128
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    5,468

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in 78542 get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in 78542 that commute to work in a particular way.

20.9 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in 78542.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    662
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    2,490
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    4,941
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    4,995
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    5,348
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    2,563
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    3,510
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    292
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    457
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    860
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    470
  • 90 or more minutes
    368

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for 78542 in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

States in 78542

If you want to see how the population and demographics of 78542 compare to other zip codes in Texas, check out the list of all Texas zip codes below: