Roma, Texas.
. Rio Grande City-Roma, TX metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$751 (+93%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Texas$1,556
- United States$1,922
Living in Roma, Starr County, Texas
Roma is a city of 11,561 people in Starr County. Half its households earn more than $24,579 a year and half less, against $37,639 across Starr County; 37% of its people live below the poverty line. 55% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 45% are rented. Unemployment in Starr County was 9.4% in August 2026, and the county had 2.1% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then construction.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Roma is a small city on the Rio Grande in Starr County, and it is a young place, with a median age well below what is typical across the country. Incomes here run below the county's, and a larger share of residents live below the poverty line than in most of the country, though more homes are lived in by their owners than rented. A four-year degree is held by fewer adults than in much of the country.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, followed by the building trades, restaurants and hotels, and manufacturing. Across Starr County, the largest workplaces include Roma ISD, H-E-B and Starr County Memorial Hospital. Unemployment across the county has stayed high but eased slightly over the past year, and the county has added a small number of jobs, while some residents work from home.
Things to do. Falcon International Reservoir is a large reservoir a longer drive away, and Falcon State Park sits beside it, also a longer drive away. Both suit a day out on the water or a quiet walk along the shore. Winters in Roma are mild, with little or no snow, and summers are very hot, so cooler months are the easier time for time outdoors.
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- 3,299households
- 16%of adults have a degree
- 37%below the poverty line
- 17%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Starr County had 15,052 jobs in 2025, 2.1% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 71° and lows near 45°; warmest in August, with highs near 99° and lows near 75°. About 22 inches of rain a year, and little or no snow.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Rio Grande City weather station, 12 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Starr County
- RIO Grande City Grulla ISDSchool district1,935FTE
- Roma ISDSchool district1,087FTE
- H-E-BRetail324
- Starr County Memorial HospitalGeneral hospital290FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters264
- Rio Grande City Nursing and Rehabilitation115
- Starr County Nursing and Transitional Care115
- Southwest Valley Constructors CoCommercial building construction general contractors83
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 8 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,005 people in all across the county; Roma has one of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Cold wavesVery high
- Heat wavesRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Roma’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Starr County and the Rio Grande City-Roma, TX metro.
Roma home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 7 Roma listings — the market is cooling.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Roma14.38%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Roma35
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Roma7
Zip codes with a Roma address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Roma — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.
Zillow publishes no zip-level series with this city on the address.