When looking for
jobs in the Rio Grande Valley, you should first look at the cost of living.
Don’t expect to be paid what you make somewhere else. Here is the good news.
According to
www.salary.com, if you make $50,000 in New York City, you should expect an
income of $35,900 in McAllen, Texas. However, the cost of living in McAllen is
68% less than it is in New York. This would leave you with an extra $20,000 in
disposable income per year.
Now let’s move on
to where to find a job. Even though Texas unemployment has lowered to 4.1%,
places in the Rio Grande Valley are as high as 5.7%. Keep in mind unemployment
also counts the people that don’t want to work.
If you are a
highly trained professional I would check the following areas:
1) Healthcare
– This is by far the biggest arena. There are quite a few large hospitals in the
area and every time I drive through town I see more medical buildings going up.
A few of the major hospitals are the Rio Grande Valley Regional Hospital,
McAllen Heart Hospital, McAllen Medical Center, Edinburg Children’s Hospital,
and Valley Baptist in Harlingen and Brownsville.
2) Maquiladoras
– McAllen boasts that 80 of the Fortune 500 companies have operations in McAllen
or right across the border in Reynosa. Some of these companies are AT&T, BMW,
GE, Nokia, Panasonic and Sony. Be prepared for the hassles of crossing an
international bridge everyday.
3) Colleges
– The main colleges are UTB in Brownsville and Pan American in Edinburg. Other
colleges include STCC and TSTC
If you are
someone who does not have a college degree, then let me suggest trying a call
center. The wages may start off low. However, if you can show up to work every
day and be aggressive towards advancement, you should be able to double your
starting pay in a short amount of time. Some of the major call centers in the
Rio Grande Valley are Hotels.com in Pharr, Ticketmaster, T-Mobile in Mission
and Brownsville, Convergys in Pharr and Brownsville, ACT, West, and DISH Network
in Harlingen. I expect many more call centers to open in the Rio Grande Valley
in the next few years.
Another great
company to try and start with would be H.E.B. They are the most successful
grocery store in the RGV.
