monthly rates this winter, what are you paying and where?

park host in Mission here, year round, so i see the other side of that letter. a few things set the number this year. the electric rate from Magic Valley went up again and a lot of parks that used to fold it into the monthly are metering now, which looks like a bigger jump than it is. insurance on the buildings went way up after the hail in 2024. and the parks that put in pickleball courts are paying for pickleball courts.

what i see in Mission and Alamo for a full hookup 30/50 amp site: 450 to 550 at the older parks with a rec hall and a pool, 600 to 750 at the resort style places with the planned activities and the woodshop and the whole bit. most give a break for a six month prepay, usually 5 to 8 percent, and the November to March people pay more per month than the October to April people. ask about the prepay before you sign anything.

Pharr, older park, maybe 180 sites, rec hall and a pool and that is about it. we prepaid six months November through April at 3,100 total, so 517 a month, electric metered at 13 cents. cable is included, which we do not use. the prepay was 8 percent off the monthly rate and they let us pay it in september to lock it. no pickleball, which i consider a feature.

the coast is a different animal. i am in Port Isabel on a bay side site with a view of the causeway, 780 a month plus electric, and that is the middle of the range out here. the resort on the island itself is over a thousand. you pay for the water and you pay for the wind. salt eats everything, the awning hardware, the hitch, the entry steps, the tv antenna. i budget an extra 300 a year just for stuff the salt killed.

if you want cheap and you fish, Arroyo City and Rio Hondo have little parks in the 450 range but you drive 40 minutes for a real grocery store.

reading this from Winnipeg with the exchange rate open in the other tab. 560 US is about 775 canadian right now, and the parks price in US dollars and do not care. our park in Weslaco is 540, so 745 canadian, and we are staying anyway because the alternative is february here. how are the Harlingen parks compared to Mission this year, we keep hearing they run a bit cheaper.

Harlingen and San Benito do run 40 to 80 a month under Mission for the same kind of park, and the drive to the island is shorter. tradeoff is fewer parks, so they fill early. small thing that offsets some of this: if you bird, the Texas State Parks pass is 70 dollars for the year and gets you into Bentsen, Estero Llano Grande and Resaca de la Palma as many times as you want, and day fees add up fast over a winter. details at tpwd.texas.gov.

late to this but wanted to add a number since i used this thread to shop. first winter, made it to Mission on tuesday. we are paying 585 a month at a park off Bryan Road, electric on top, month to month because i did not know if i would like it. everybody keeps stopping by to see the new arrival. it was 14 above in Cedar Rapids the morning we left and 74 here today.