Job growth in McAllen to hit 1% increase through August, Brownsville’s official data shows nearly 1% decline

The Rio Grande Valley’s two largest metro areas added 1,800 jobs through August 2026 over the year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by the Texas Workforce Commission. 

The job gains in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area hit 2,900 jobs or nearly 1% increase over the year, compared to the Brownsville-Harlingen metro area losing 1,100 jobs or roughly 1% decline. 

In the McAllen metro there were 308,100 non-farm jobs compared to about 159,500 in the Brownsville metro area. 

Gains in the federal government sector led percentage wise growth over the year but it’s not the largest workforce along the Texas-Mexico border region. 

It was not immediately clear what’s driving the uptick in federal employment in the Brownsville-Harlingen metro or McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area, though there has been a plethora of U.S. Customs and Border Protection openings in the region. 

In general though, several key industries along the Texas-Mexico border have faced major disruption as a large population of individuals has struggled with new visa restrictions or even work permit cancellations over the past year. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the Valley have also disrupted the construction industry, which businesses say may have trickled down to other industries, but it’s still unclear exactly how that will affect the job market. 

There’s some indication that fewer individuals who hail from Mexico are sending their children to school in the Brownsville metro area; the school district has reported a decline in student enrollment. 

President Donald Trump’s administration’s tariff policies and renegotiation of the USMCA, or trade policy with Mexico, have also created significant uncertainty for the trade sector along the border — though the it has not significantly dropped, just a slight decline in the Brownsville metro and a slight gain in the McAllen metro. 

But in general, the data is a bit misleading because it’s unclear how accurate the available information reflects the job market. The pattern over the past 8 months has been relatively consistent with the Brownsville job market showing cooling signs while the McAllen metro is still growing. 

And yet, the majority of the big announcements and hiring opportunities are coming out of the Brownsville market – even Space Exploration Technologies Corp. workers alone are anticipated to add several thousand employees to the local market. 

The way the current employment statistics data is calculated in Texas stems from unemployment insurance wage records, which is tied to where the work is performed. That means for businesses in Texas with one location all the jobs are attributed to that metro area. 

But when a company, like SpaceX or Bechtel, has multiple locations across the state, the business files a multiple workforce report – but if they don’t file that report it’s possible the jobs are being counted in a different Texas metro. 

The federal government sector does not include military contractors, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers private-sector jobs. Active-duty military personnel are also not included in civilian nonfarm jobs data.

The way the data stacks up, the McAllen metro saw gains in state government jobs, leisure and hospitality, professional services, construction, private education and health services in addition to the federal government sectors and trade. There were declines in local government, financial activities, and the information sector. Manufacturing was flat. 

The information sector, which includes tech jobs such as computer programming and information technology support, as well as telecom providers, was down 8.11% to 3,400 jobs in August 2026, a steeper decline than the 5.56% drop recorded in July.

Those losses were offset by gains in private education and health services, which grew by 1.34% over the year to 98,200 jobs. Private education includes charter school employees, including teachers.

The trade, transportation, and utilities sector also gained 0.88% to 57,500 jobs in the McAllen metro.

Leisure and hospitality grew by 2.56% to 32,000 jobs, a sector that’s been steadily increasing over the year. 

Local government jobs rebounded to 44,800 in the McAllen metro, up from July’s 44,100 as school districts staffed up ahead of the new academic year, though local government is still down slightly, 0.88%, year over year. Some of that also appears to be tied to student enrollment declines across several school districts. 

Financial activities, including financial services and insurance jobs and real estate and rental leasing jobs, fell 0.99% to 10,000 workers in the McAllen metro.

State government jobs in the McAllen metro increased by 3.66% over the year to 8,500 jobs. Professional and business services were up 1.24% to 24,500 jobs.

Federal government jobs, which were flat in July, rose 4.17% over the year to 5,000 jobs in August. Mining, logging and construction were up 2.06% over the year to 9,900 jobs in the McAllen metro.

Federal government jobs in the Brownsville-Harlingen metro area increased by 14.29%, the same rate reported in July, holding steady at 3,200 jobs.

The information sector was down 13.33% through August to 1,300 workers, a very small slice of the overall job market but a decline that nearly doubled the 6.67% drop reported in July.

State government jobs, which increased by 3.45% over the year, were unchanged from July, holding at 3,000 jobs. Professional and business services grew by 4.05% to 18,000 workers, though that’s a slight pullback from the 18,100 jobs reported in July.

Mining, logging, and construction jobs also fell over the year in the Brownsville metro, down 5.26% to 3,600 jobs, unchanged from the July level.

Trade, transportation, and utilities in the Brownsville metro were down 0.76% to 26,100 jobs, a slight improvement from July’s 1.14% decline.

Private education and health services jobs in the Brownsville-Harlingen metro were down 1.89% over the year to 46,700 jobs — a deeper decline than July 2026. 

Leisure and hospitality in the Brownsville metro grew by roughly 1% over the year to 20,300 jobs, while other services rose 2.78% to 3,700 jobs. Local government jobs were down 4.44% to 21,500 jobs.

Those local government jobs include public school teachers in Brownsville – there were 1,102 fewer students for the 2026 through 2027 school year – there was a 1,803 drop in 2025-2026. 

Between 2020 and 2027, there’s a drop in Brownsville public school enrollment of about 7,500 students, an 18.5% decline, the data shows. 

If proposed policies to increase deportations of foreign-born workers living in the U.S. continue, the school enrollment trend could continue, which could lead to fewer positions being needed to run those schools.