Updated Census Numbers Affirm City’s Growth

The blocks of new homes going up on N Mile 1 E in Mercedes fan out over one of the city’s more robust growth corridors.

It’s an area just north of the Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets and its open spaces are being filled by new homes and apartment complexes. And it’s not just happening on the city’s northside. There are currently 15 housing developments and subdivisions across the city at some stage of activity, be it in the planning stages or nearing completion. The city’s location in the middle of a growing Rio Grande Valley when combined with open spaces for development makes Mercedes ideal for both commuters and developers.

On the retail side, ground was broken on July 3 for the Shops At Mercedes, a $53 million retail plaza that is being built adjacent to the outlets. When completed with new retailing and restaurants, the development will fill much of the current open space between the outlet mall and the administrative offices of the South Texas Independent School District.

“It tells us we’re moving the needle,” said Mercedes City Commissioner and Mayor Pro-Tem Ruben Saldana. “Those growth numbers play very well in what we’re trying to do in elevating the city’s position in the Mid-Valley.”

Population Growth

Fresh U.S. Census Bureau numbers at the mid-decade point since the official 2020 count affirm the progress Mercedes is making.

New Census estimates show the population of Mercedes grew by nearly eight percent from 2020-to-2024. Its percentage of population growth over the last five years is among the best in the Valley. In percentage terms, Mercedes and its rate of population growth increased at a higher clip than those of Harlingen, Brownsville, McAllen and Mission. The city’s population in 2024 was just over 17,500, the Census Bureau reported.

At current projections, the population of Mercedes in 2030 would be nearing 20,000 residents, which would represent a gain of nearly 4000 over the 2020 Census.

“We’ll take it,” Saldana said of the city’s growth thus far this decade. “Adding rooftops (new homes and residences) is always a key to business and economic development. If you look at other (RGV) cities on (Census) list, we’re doing pretty good.”

Keeping Shoppers Here

The Shops At Mercedes make a clear statement that major developers see Mercedes as a prime spot for growth.

Merit, a San Antonio-based real estate company and commercial developer, has worked closely with the Mercedes Economic Development Corporation in launching the Shops At Mercedes. Merit is a major developer of retail and commercial projects in the Valley and the San Antonio metropolitan area. On its website, Merit describes the Shops as a “250,000 square-foot regional power center in one of the fastest-growing areas of South Texas.”

Merit’s description of the retail project goes on to say that nearly 81,000 vehicles per day will pass adjacent to the Shops on Expressway 83 and that nearly 160,000 people live within 10 miles of the new development. For Mercedes, Commissioner Saldana said, the Shops will keep shoppers and visitors in the city after-or-before they visit the outlet mall.

“We’ve had huge leakage to other cities to the extent we have money being lost to neighboring cities,” he said. “That has been a disadvantage. Now, with these new developments, we will be able to keep people in Mercedes and that will be helpful for many businesses in our community.”

Mercedes moves ahead in showing its economic development strategies and efforts are working as retailing/commercial development dovetails with residential growth to move the city forward.

“It gives us confidence and a lot of hope,” Saldana said.

-Ric Cavazos

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