McAllen is the twenty-first most populous city in Texas and the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas. It is located at the southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley (not a geographical valley) and is part of the Southern United States. It is on the Rio Grande, across from the Mexican city of Reynosa, and is about 70 miles (110 km) west of South Padre Island and the Gulf of Mexico. The 2012 estimates put the city's population at 140,717 and the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission metropolitan area at 804,934; making up most of the population of Hidalgo County (determined by the 2010 census to be 774,773). It is ranked the sixth largest metropolitan area by population in the state of Texas.