Top 10 Hot Jobs in Borderplex, the First US Inland Foreign Trade Zone and a Cheap Place to Live

Borderplex, or McAllen Borderplex, is a kind of Tex-Mex metropolitan area that includes cities on both sides of the Rio Grande on the US southern border at Texas. The major cities encompassed are McAllen, Texas and Reynosa, Mexico; along with smaller towns and communities. A metroplex census and labor statistics in America is an area comprised of more than one large city and Borderplex represents two cities on the US-Mexico border. Hidalgo TX is also a part of this large entity. Other American cities are parts of Borderplexes, such as Laredo, Texas and cities in New Mexico.

Some job seekers may not be aware of the existence of Borderplex, given the recent years of border wall building and the focus on illegal immigration, but this border metroplex is still defined, active, and even thriving. The Retail Industry especially seems to be booming on both sides of the river, but more so in McAllen; with an abundance of Sales and Finance jobs available in the Mexican portion of the metro area. Higher paid jobs are available in McAllen TX, especially in Trucking/Transportation, Healthcare, Insurance, and Sales. Interestingly, as of mid-January 2012, over three times as many jobs were open in the Reynosa portion of Borderplex as in the McAllen portion. While not common practice, some US workers are traveling to the Reynosa Area for work, but a working knowledge of Spanish is almost mandatory.

Immigration websites that explain moving from the USA to Mexico have indicated that visas and Mexican Passports are a matter of paperwork, fees, and waiting and require no citizenship tests. However, these sites instruct users to contact employers in Mexico for jobs before attempting to move into the country. Also check on up-to-date crime rate information.

McAllen rates at Number 4 Cheapest Place to Live in America and is the first city named an Inland Foreign Trade Zone in the US. The work put into McAllen to build foreign trade has resulted in citizens of Reynosa and its surrounds traveling regularly into McAllen to purchase goods and services.

The McAllen Foreign Trade Zone website defines this zone in this way:

A Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) is an isolated, policed, and enclosed area that is in or adjacent to a port of entry and is considered outside customs territory of the United States.-- http://www.mcallenftz.org/ftz_about_us.php

The site goes on to explain what can be done in such a zone:

Merchandise admitted into a foreign trade zone may be assembled, manufactured, manipulated, sorted, repaired, cleaned, inspected, distributed, repacked, and destroyed.

As the first US inland foreign trade zone not involving a sea port, McAllen feels that the free enterprise in which they have been involved since 1973 is unmatched anywhere else globally. A total of at least 410 companies from 42 nations have settled in McAllen as of January 2012. The McAllen FTZ is looking to expand to fill more of its offices and warehouse spaces and the zone provides incentives on taxes, duties, and tariffs.

Across the border, McAllen FTZ opened FTZ Logistics S. de R.L. de C.V. in Reynosa successfully in 2008.

McAllen is a fairly large city, with over 133,000 residents in 2011, according to federal and local statistics and Sperling's Best Places. Average home values increased over half a percent in that year, but median home cost is only $103,000, compared to much higher costs elsewhere. Unemployment is less than the national average as well and job growth in 2011 was almost 2.0%, continuing into 2012.

The Cost of Living Index in McAllen is 81 overall, according to the latest figures, although utilities stand at a 96, compared to the nation.

High Demand Jobs within 25 miles of McAllen, out of 4,000 total job listings.

1. Sales Representatives
2. Dentists
3. Event Specialists
4. Insurance Agents - Insurance and Financial Products
5. Physicians
6. Company and Owner Operator Truck Drivers
7. RN licensed Nurses
8. Physician Assistants
9. Salespeople
10. Physical and Occupational Therapists

• Impulsora Rio Grande, S.A. de C.V.

Antonio Rodriguez #613-A
Reynosa, Tamaulipas C.P. 88620 Mexico
Phone: +52 924 5823

• Independence College

Cerro de La Brenma 1234
Las Fuentes Coloniales, Reynosa Mexico

+01 899 995 5302

• Mexican-America University of the North - Reynosa, McAllen TX, other.

Guerrero Esq. Plutarco Elías Calles No. 1317 Colonia del Prado
Reynosa 88560 Tamaulipas Mexico
+52 899 922 2002

Highest Demand Jobs out of 14,550+ January '12 Job Listings for Reynosa (within 25 km/15.5 mile radius)

1. Assistant Auditors
2. Receptionists
3. Sales Executives
4. Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants
5. Adjutant Generals
6. Secretaries
7. Accountants
8. Grocery Store Clerks
9. Data Entry Operators
10. Financial Advisors
11. Sales Representatives
12. Warehouse Jobs
13. Messengers
14. Assistant Managers
15. Salespeople
16. Security Guards
17. Sales Managers
18. Account Executives