What Are the Warmest Cities in Texas?
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The three warmest cities in Texas are McAllen, Brownsville, and Laredo.
In this article I’m going to share with you my ranking of the warmest places in Texas.
I created my list by researching data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other climate data providers.
Below I’m listing the top 10 warmest places in Texas that have the highest average yearly temperatures. Later in the article I share a table with 50 most populous cities in Texas.
Top 10 Warmest Cities in Texas
Here are the top 10 warmest cities in Texas ranked by their daily mean temperature. The top five hottest cities are all located in the same region, so any smaller towns or cities in the area are likely to have the same hot climate, too.
1. McAllen – daily mean temperature of 77.35 °F
By far the hottest city of Texas is McAllen in South Texas, located on the border with Mexico. McAllen features a hot semi-arid climate with an extremely long warm season and some of the warmest winters in the entire United States (with daily high temperature in the coldest months of at least 73 °F). If you’re looking for a place that’s warm year round and isn’t in South Florida, McAllen is one of your best options. Note that summers may bring extreme heat, particularly during a heat wave when temperatures may climb over 100 °F.
For more on hot weather in Texas, read my article How Hot Does Texas Get?
Also, note that while McAllen has the highest average annual temperature, some areas of Texas get much hotter during the summer. The hottest place in Texas in the summer, Castolon in Big Bend National Park, records average temperatures climbing to 102-104 °F. This is the mean maximum temperature of McAllen.
2. Brownsville – daily mean temperature of 76.25 °F
According to the National Weather Service data, the second of the hottest cities in Texas is Brownsville. It’s located on the Western Gulf Coast, in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. It’s so close to the Tropic of Cancer that its humid subtropical climate borders a tropical savanna climate. The city is slightly cooler than McAllen in the summer which is why it’s the second hottest city in the Lone Star State. Humidity-wise, it’s much more humid, so air conditioning is a must the entire year.
3. Laredo – daily mean temperature of 74.95 °F
Laredo takes the third place in the ranking of the hottest cities in Texas, with temperatures just barely higher than Harlingen on the fourth spot. Laredo, like McAllen, has a hot semi-arid climate, and is also located on the border with Mexico. Laredo has hotter summers than McAllen. The normal mid summer high is about 100-101 °F compared to 98-99 °F in McAllen. In exchange for scorching heat in the summer, Laredo has cooler winters.
4. Harlingen – daily mean temperature of 74.7 °F
When you look at annual daily mean temperatures, Harlingen is only slightly cooler than Laredo. But when you look at the winter temperatures, Harlingen is warmer than Laredo. It’s Laredo’s hot summers that result in a higher annual average. Another difference between these two cities is that Harlingen has more precipitation, which qualifies it for a humid subtropical climate compared to the semi-arid one in Laredo.
5. Edinburg – daily mean temperature of 74 °F
Edinburg is only about 12 miles north of McAllen. The weather station’s data indicates the difference is big enough that the average daily mean temperature in Edinburg is 3.35 °F lower. Edinburg has both cooler winters (though still has some of the hottest temperatures in the winter in the state) and cooler summers.
6. Corpus Christi – daily mean temperature of 72.95 °F
The eighth biggest city in Texas, Corpus Christi, is about 140 miles southeast of San Antonio. Corpus Christi is the first hottest place in Texas that’s not located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The city is located by the Corpus Christi Bay and is sheltered from the Gulf of Mexico by Mustang Island and Padre Island (one of the best places in Texas for camping). It enjoys spring-like winters and summers that are a little bit cooler than in the previous featured places.
7. Galveston – daily mean temperature of 71.3 °F
The second hottest place in Texas outside of the Lower Rio Grande Valley is Galveston, a coastal resort located on an island on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Its average high temperatures in the summer are more comfortable than in other cities in this ranking. For example, in the hottest month, Galveston sees daily high temperatures of about 90 °F compared to 95 °F in Corpus Christi, 96 °F in Brownsville, and 100 °F in McAllen. Considering the humidity, Galveston still brings scorching heat in the warmest months but for Texas standards, it’s cooler.
8. Del Rio – daily mean temperature of 71.2 °F
Located in southwestern Texas close to the border with Mexico and the Amistad Reservoir, Del Rio has a hot semi-arid climate like McAllen and Laredo. This means that the city has some of the hottest summers in the state. Del Rio has about 35,000 residents and is the smallest city in this ranking.
9. Houston – daily mean temperature of 70.5 °F
Houston, the most populous city in Texas, is the ninth warmest city in this ranking. It’s noticeably cooler than the hottest cities featured before. But on average, it’s still warmer than other major cities in the state.
Compared to San Antonio, the second most populous city in Texas, Houston isn’t that much warmer. San Antonio’s annual daily mean temperature is 69.6 °F which means it’s just 0.9 °F lower than in Houston.
The difference is more pronounced for Dallas (which is 2.5 °F colder than Houston and 1.6 °F colder than San Antonio) or for El Paso (which is 4.3 °F colder than Houston and 3.4 °F colder than San Antonio).
Due to the combination of immense humidity and hot weather, Houston during heat waves may have some of the most intolerable weather conditions in the Lone Star State. The heat index may climb to 130 °F.
10. Victoria – daily mean temperature of 70.2 °F
A small city of Victoria, located about 30 miles inland from the Gulf Coast, closes our ranking of the top 10 warmest Texas cities. The difference between the hottest city in Texas, McAllen, and the tenth hottest place in Texas is a very noticeable 7.15 °F. To illustrate this, McAllen enjoys winters with daily highs of 73 °F while Victoria only reaches 65 °F. Austin would be the next city on our list, with the annual average temperature of 69.95 °F, just a tiny bit cooler than Victoria.
50 Biggest Cities in Texas Ranked by Daily Mean Temperature
I created the table below by researching data for the 50 most populous municipalities in Texas. When I couldn’t find data for a given municipality, I moved on to another. While the list includes 50 cities, some of the bigger cities may be missing because there was no National Weather Service data for them. Please check the closest geographically city then.
| City | Average high temperature (°F) | Average low temperature (°F) | Daily mean temperature (°F) |
|---|---|---|---|
| McAllen | 87.3 | 67.4 | 77.35 |
| Brownsville | 85.4 | 67.1 | 76.25 |
| Laredo | 86 | 63.9 | 74.95 |
| Harlingen | 84.7 | 64.7 | 74.7 |
| Edinburg | 84.7 | 63.3 | 74 |
| Corpus Christi | 82.3 | 63.6 | 72.95 |
| Galveston | 77.3 | 65.3 | 71.3 |
| Del Rio | 82.6 | 59.8 | 71.2 |
| Houston | 80.5 | 60.5 | 70.5 |
| Victoria | 80.8 | 59.6 | 70.2 |
| Austin | 80.5 | 59.4 | 69.95 |
| Port Arthur | 79.6 | 60.2 | 69.9 |
| San Antonio | 80.3 | 58.9 | 69.6 |
| Beaumont | 78.7 | 60.3 | 69.5 |
| League City | 78 | 61 | 69.5 |
| College Station | 79.2 | 58.9 | 69.05 |
| Sugar Land | 79.2 | 58.8 | 69 |
| Bryan | 79.2 | 58.8 | 69 |
| Dallas | 77.9 | 58.1 | 68 |
| Killeen | 78 | 57 | 67.5 |
| Huntsville | 77.6 | 57.3 | 67.45 |
| Georgetown | 79 | 55.2 | 67.1 |
| New Braunfels | 80 | 54 | 67 |
| Lancaster | 77 | 57 | 67 |
| Waco | 77.9 | 55.7 | 66.8 |
| Grand Prairie | 76.6 | 56.6 | 66.6 |
| Round Rock | 79 | 54 | 66.5 |
| Tyler | 76.6 | 56.4 | 66.5 |
| El Paso | 78.6 | 53.8 | 66.2 |
| Temple | 77 | 55 | 66 |
| Abilene | 78.2 | 53.7 | 65.95 |
| Fort Worth | 76.4 | 55.3 | 65.85 |
| Midland | 78.5 | 53 | 65.75 |
| Keller | 76 | 55.4 | 65.7 |
| Odessa | 77 | 54.1 | 65.55 |
| San Angelo | 78.2 | 52.8 | 65.5 |
| Rowlett | 76 | 55 | 65.5 |
| Arlington | 74.8 | 55.9 | 65.35 |
| Longview | 76.9 | 53.5 | 65.2 |
| Denton | 75.7 | 54.4 | 65.05 |
| Grapevine | 76.5 | 52.8 | 64.65 |
| Flower Mound | 76 | 53 | 64.5 |
| Mansfield | 76 | 53 | 64.5 |
| Burleson | 75.3 | 53.2 | 64.25 |
| Texarkana | 74.8 | 53.2 | 64 |
| Lewisville | 74.6 | 53.2 | 63.9 |
| Wichita Falls | 75.8 | 51 | 63.4 |
| McKinney | 73.5 | 52.1 | 62.8 |
| Lubbock | 74.9 | 47.8 | 61.35 |
| Amarillo | 72.5 | 44.9 | 58.7 |
Check the Warmest Cities in Neighboring States
If you’re interested in learning about the hottest cities in states neighboring Texas, check out the following articles:
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Arkansas?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Louisiana?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in New Mexico?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Oklahoma?
Also check my article on the warmest cities in the US in every state.
Further Reading
I also ranked Texas cities by how sunny they are using available sunshine data from the National Weather Service.
You’ll also enjoy reading my article “What City Has the Best Weather in Texas?” and my article on what cities in Texas have a similar climate to California.
I also wrote an article on winters in Texas and covered whether Texas has four seasons. You may also want to read my article on the coolest places in Texas (spoiler: you’ll still need air conditioning there as the average high temperatures in the summer are still… well, Texas-like, particularly during heat waves).
You may be also interested in my article on the hottest cities in the US and my article Is Florida Hotter Than Texas? I also compared the climate of Texas with California in which I also described the weather in the hottest place in Texas that’s not inhabited.
For specific cities, I also published an article on the number of sunny days in Dallas.
Frequently Asked Questions
The warmest city in Texas is McAllen with an annual daily mean temperature of 77.35 °F. That’s 6.85 °F higher than in Houston and 18.65 °F higher than in the coldest major city in Texas, Amarillo. During a heat wave, McAllen may record very high temperatures above 100 °F.
If we define best year round weather as mild winters and more tolerable summers, Galveston may be one of the best options with average high temperatures of 62 °F in the coldest month and 90 °F in the hottest month. It has high humidity, though, so semi-arid cities in West Texas like Lubbock or Amarillo may be better choices.
The warmest parts of Texas are in South Texas, most notably on the border in Mexico from Laredo, through McAllen, to Brownsville. Winters have temperatures reaching 73 °F during the day while summers, as expected in this part of the state, bring very intense heat necessitating the constant use of air conditioning.
The warmest part of Texas in the winter is Lower Rio Grande Valley. Daily highs in cities like McAllen reach 73 °F. The second hottest temperature is in Brownsville. This region is so warm that Texans living in North Texas come down from the north for the much warmer winter there.
Houston is slightly warmer than Austin but the difference is very small. The average temperature in Houston is 70.5 °F compared to 69.95 °F in Austin. The difference is mostly caused by warmer nights in Houston (which also give Houston more humid weather). Houston is much more humid, though, and that brings more extreme heat in the summer with a much higher heat index.
While El Paso does have temperatures soaring to 106 °F on the hottest days, it’s not the hottest part of the state. The city has lower humidity which results in a lower heat index than cities near the Gulf of Mexico. It’s also cooler temperature-wise than Big Bend National Park which is one of the hottest locations in the country, with temperatures climbing to 113 °F on the hottest days.