--- title: "Data & API · Frontera Signal" description: "Rio Grande Valley business data for AI agents: bridge waits, border crossings, the peso and diesel, city sales tax, bar and restaurant sales, home health…" url: "https://fronterasignal.com/data/" lang: "en-US" --- Data through week 44 of 2026 Updated Nov 3, 2026 Data and API # Valley business data, by the call The data behind Frontera Signal, for software and AI agents. An agent can ask about bridge waits, border crossings, the peso, diesel, city sales tax, bar and restaurant sales, home health agencies, building permits, commercial projects, material prices and housing supply in the Rio Grande Valley, and pay for each answer, from $0.01 to $0.25. Price $0.01 to $0.25 per call, paid in USDC on Base Payment x402 v2, straight from the agent's wallet. No API key and no account. How it works Free Errors (400) and empty answers (404) are never charged. A real sample of every endpoint and the latest 4 weeks of every series cost nothing. For your agent [`/api/v1`](https://fronterasignal.com/api/v1) lists every endpoint with its price, parameters and free sample. Docs [`/openapi.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/openapi.json) · [`/llms.txt`](https://fronterasignal.com/llms.txt) · [`/.well-known/x402`](https://fronterasignal.com/.well-known/x402) Data through week 44 of 2026, updated Nov 3, 2026 ## What you can ask 25 endpoints, each shown with a sample question it answers. Every free sample is a real answer built from the current data, so you can check the format before you pay. 1. City construction snapshot “Is McAllen's housing market oversupplied and are building costs rising this week?” `GET /api/v1/snapshot?city=McAllen` weekly and monthly · through week 44 of 2026 $0.02 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/snapshot.json) 2. New commercial projects “What commercial projects were registered in Hidalgo County since Sept 1, who owns them and how big are they?” `GET /api/v1/projects?city=McAllen&limit=5` daily · data as of Nov 1, 2026 $0.03 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/projects.json) 3. Company track record “How many projects has this developer filed in the Valley since 2024, and how large was the biggest one?” `GET /api/v1/companies?name=independent+school+district` daily · data as of Nov 1, 2026 $0.02 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/companies.json) 4. Projects near an address “How many commercial projects were filed within two miles of 1201 E Capote Central Ave, Pharr, and what are they worth?” `GET /api/v1/nearby?address=1201+E+Capote+Central+Ave&city=Pharr&radius_mi=2` daily · data as of Nov 1, 2026 $0.03 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/nearby.json) 5. Parcel record for an address “What is the parcel id, building size and market value of 800 S 10th St, McAllen?” `GET /api/v1/parcel?address=800+S+10th+St&city=McAllen` read live per call · data as of Feb 11, 2026 $0.04 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/parcel.json) 6. Filed cost per square foot “What does new commercial construction cost per square foot in Hidalgo County right now?” `GET /api/v1/cost-per-sqft?county=Hidalgo` daily · data as of Nov 1, 2026 $0.03 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/cost-per-sqft.json) 7. Building material shelf prices “What does a sheet of 7/16 OSB cost in McAllen this week?” `GET /api/v1/materials?item=osb` twice a week · data as of Oct 29, 2026 $0.01 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/materials.json) 8. Building permits by week “Are McAllen single family permits up or down over the last two months?” `GET /api/v1/series/permits-weekly?from=2026-W44&to=2026-W44` weekly · through week 44 of 2026 $0.05 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/series-permits-weekly.json) 9. Housing permits by month “How many single family homes did Brownsville permit each month this year?” `GET /api/v1/series/permits-monthly?place=Brownsville&from=2026-01` monthly · data as of Aug 31, 2026 $0.05 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/series-permits-monthly.json) 10. Building input prices by week “Has framing lumber gone up or down since August?” `GET /api/v1/series/cost-basket-weekly?from=2026-W44&to=2026-W44` weekly and monthly · through week 44 of 2026 $0.05 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/series-cost-basket-weekly.json) 11. Housing supply by week “Is the McAllen metro carrying more than six months of housing supply?” `GET /api/v1/series/absorption?from=2026-W44&to=2026-W44` monthly · through week 44 of 2026 $0.05 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/series-absorption.json) 12. Labor and financing conditions “How long does it take to build a 2,100 sq ft house in the Valley right now?” `GET /api/v1/series/labor-ranges?from=2026-W30&to=2026-W30` monthly · through week 30 of 2026 Latest available reading: July 24, 2026. A newer reading has not been published yet, so these are the most recent figures. $0.05 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/series-labor-ranges.json) 13. Forecast track record “How many of Frontera Signal's forecasts have been graded HIT?” `GET /api/v1/series/calls?from=2026-W44&to=2026-W44` weekly · through week 44 of 2026 $0.05 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/series-calls.json) 14. Weekly briefing as JSON “What changed in Valley construction this week?” `GET /api/v1/issue?week=2026-W37&lang=en` weekly · through week 44 of 2026 $0.25 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/issue.json) 15. Bridge wait times now “Which Valley bridge has the shortest commercial wait right now?” `GET /api/v1/bridge-wait?mode=commercial` every 15 minutes · data as of Oct 26, 2026 $0.01 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/bridge-wait.json) 16. Bridge waits by hour of week “How long is the Pharr commercial line usually on a Monday at 2 pm?” `GET /api/v1/bridge-hourly?crossing=pharr&mode=commercial` daily · data as of Oct 26, 2026 $0.03 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/bridge-hourly.json) 17. Border crossings by month “Are truck crossings at Hidalgo and Pharr up from last year?” `GET /api/v1/crossings?port=hidalgo&measure=trucks` monthly · data as of Sep 1, 2026 $0.03 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/crossings.json) 18. Peso exchange rate “How many pesos does a dollar buy, and how has it moved this month?” `GET /api/v1/peso` daily · data as of Oct 16, 2026 $0.01 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/peso.json) 19. Gulf Coast diesel price “What does diesel cost this week on the Gulf Coast, and what did it cost a year ago?” `GET /api/v1/diesel` weekly · data as of Oct 19, 2026 $0.01 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/diesel.json) 20. City sales tax by month “Is McAllen's sales tax up from a year ago?” `GET /api/v1/sales-tax?city=McAllen` monthly · data as of Oct 1, 2026 $0.02 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/sales-tax.json) 21. New business outlets “How many new restaurants opened in McAllen in the last 90 days, and which ones?” `GET /api/v1/new-outlets?city=McAllen&industry=restaurants&limit=10` weekly · data as of Oct 24, 2026 $0.05 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/new-outlets.json) 22. Bar and restaurant alcohol sales “Which McAllen bars sold the most alcohol last month?” `GET /api/v1/alcohol-sales?city=McAllen&limit=10` monthly · data as of Sep 1, 2026 $0.05 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/alcohol-sales.json) 23. Home health agencies “Which home health agencies in McAllen rate 4 stars or higher?” `GET /api/v1/home-health?city=McAllen&min_stars=4` quarterly · data as of Oct 21, 2026 $0.03 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/home-health.json) 24. Industry snapshot “What changed for Valley freight and customs this week?” `GET /api/v1/industry?industry=freight` daily · data as of n/a $0.02 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/industry.json) 25. Ask the Valley “What does a 2x4 cost in McAllen this week?” `GET /api/v1/ask?q=What+does+a+2x4+cost+in+McAllen+this+week%3F&lang=en` read live per call · data as of n/a $0.25 per call [Free sample](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/ask.json) ## How paying works 1. Make a plain GET. Without payment the answer is `402 Payment Required`: the `PAYMENT-REQUIRED` header carries the x402 terms, and the JSON body gives the price, what the call returns, the free sample and the docs. 2. An x402 client signs a USDC payment on Base for that exact amount and sends the same request again with a `PAYMENT-SIGNATURE` header. The answer comes back with the receipt in `PAYMENT-RESPONSE`. The facilitator pays the network fee, so the wallet only needs USDC. 3. Mistakes cost nothing. Every parameter is checked before payment: an unknown or misspelled one gets a free 400 that lists the allowed values, and a valid question with nothing to answer gets a free 404. See the price first. This call is free. ``` curl -i 'https://fronterasignal.com/api/v1/snapshot?city=McAllen' ``` What the 402 body says ``` { "error": "payment_required", "price": "$0.02", "returns": "One Valley city's (or the whole Valley's) latest permits, monthly housing permits by structure type, sales tax receipts, housing supply, building-input and material prices, labor conditions, newest commercial projects and this morning's mortgage rate, 10-year yield and diesel price, every value dated.", "sample": "https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/snapshot.json", "docs": "https://fronterasignal.com/openapi.json", "how_to_pay": "x402 v2, USDC on Base; retry with PAYMENT-SIGNATURE" } ``` Pay and read the answer with Node 20 or later (save it as pay.mjs) ``` // npm install @x402/fetch @x402/evm viem import { wrapFetchWithPaymentFromConfig } from '@x402/fetch'; import { ExactEvmScheme } from '@x402/evm'; import { privateKeyToAccount } from 'viem/accounts'; // A wallet with a little USDC on Base. Keep the key out of your code. const account = privateKeyToAccount(process.env.PRIVATE_KEY); const pay = wrapFetchWithPaymentFromConfig(fetch, { schemes: [{ network: 'eip155:8453', client: new ExactEvmScheme(account) }], }); const res = await pay('https://fronterasignal.com/api/v1/snapshot?city=McAllen'); console.log(res.status, await res.json()); ``` ## Coverage | Data | What and where | History | | --- | --- | --- | | Bridge wait times | The 11 border crossings in Cameron, Hidalgo and Starr counties, read every 15 minutes | live | | Bridge waits by hour of the week | The same 11 crossings, by lane and by hour | since October 2026 | | Border crossings by port | Trucks, personal vehicles and pedestrians at the five ports of entry, monthly | the last 26 months | | Peso and diesel | Pesos per dollar every day; Gulf Coast retail diesel every week | the last 12 months and 60 weeks | | City sales tax by city | 45 cities in Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy counties, monthly | the latest month and the year to date | | Bar and restaurant sales | Alcohol sales from the state mixed beverage tax reports, in the four counties | the latest monthly report | | Home health agencies | Certified agencies and their federal quality ratings, in the four counties | the latest quarterly ratings | | New businesses | New businesses with a sales tax permit, by industry and city, in the four counties | the last 90 days | | City snapshot and weekly permits | McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, San Juan, Weslaco, Donna, Mercedes, Brownsville and Harlingen, in Hidalgo and Cameron counties, or the whole Valley | since week 30 of 2026 | | Commercial projects, company records and cost per square foot | 1,511 state filings: Hidalgo 961, Cameron 518, Starr 22, Willacy 10 | since Oct 4, 2024 | | Material shelf prices | 18 items, 76 dated prices at big box stores and a local yard in Mission | since Sep 28, 2026 | | Housing supply | McAllen and Brownsville metros, with data from Redfin and Zillow | since week 30 of 2026 | | Building input prices | Lumber, OSB, drywall, rebar, copper, diesel, the construction producer price index and the 30 year mortgage rate from Freddie Mac | since week 30 of 2026 | | Labor and financing | Rio Grande Valley as a whole, with no firm level data | since week 30 of 2026 | | Forecast record | 75 dated forecasts, each graded HIT, MISS, PUSH or OPEN | since week 30 of 2026 | | Weekly briefing | 7 issues in English and Spanish | since week 37 of 2026 | | Projects near an address | 999 of 1,511 filings (66.1%) have a map point, in all four counties | since Oct 4, 2024 | | Parcel records | Hidalgo County, read from the county parcel records on every call. Last updated by the county Feb 11, 2026 | live | | Monthly housing permits | 46 cities and unincorporated county areas in all four counties, by structure type, through August 2026 | since January 2024 | | Trade licenses in company records | 1,178 business licenses: air conditioning, electrical, electrical sign, elevator and appliance installation contractors. Data as of Sep 19, 2026 | n/a | | City sales tax (in the snapshot) | Brownsville, Donna, Edinburg, Harlingen, McAllen, Mercedes, Mission, Pharr, San Juan and Weslaco, monthly | since January 2024 | ## Freshness The data runs through week 44 of 2026 and was last updated Nov 3, 2026. Each endpoint above shows its cadence and its newest data. Inside a paid answer, every value says how fresh it is. Two real rows from the free McAllen snapshot sample: ``` [ { "week_id": "2026-W44", "measure": "commercial_projects_registered_state", "count": 0, "status": "reported", "value_usd": null, "as_of": "2026-10-30", "age_days": 4, "cadence": "weekly", "stale": false, "source": "Frontera Signal" } ] ``` `as_of` Date of the reading. `age_days` Days between as\_of and the answer. `cadence` How often the source publishes: weekly or monthly. `stale` true once a weekly measure is more than 14 days old, or a monthly one more than 90. `status` reported; dark (the source published nothing that week); or no\_reading (we have no reading for it). `value` A range comes as {low, high, unit}; approx: true marks a rounded reading. ## Limits - **DARK is an answer too.** In week 44 of 2026, 4 of the 33 permit readings were dark because the source published nothing. You get the row marked dark, never a zero or an estimate. If every row you ask for is dark, the answer is a free 404. - **Monthly sources leave gaps.** 376 of the 465 weekly housing supply rows are no\_reading. Check as\_of before you compare weeks. - **Labor readings are sparse.** The newest is from week 30 of 2026. - **Cost per square foot comes from filed estimates.** It is calculated from the estimated costs filed with the state. Nothing here is a quote, bid or appraisal. - **Weekly permits cover two counties.** Weekly city permits cover Hidalgo and Cameron. Monthly housing permits cover all four counties. Starr (22) and Willacy (10) commercial projects do appear in the filings. - **Map points are partial.** Only 66.1% of filings have a map point, because intersections and addresses with no house number can't be placed. Treat the nearby count as a floor. - **Parcels in Hidalgo County only, for now.** A Cameron, Starr or Willacy address gets a free 400. Hidalgo has no digital flood map, so the answer says `no_digital_firm` and never says a parcel is outside a flood zone. Values carry the date the county last updated its records; the tax year is not confirmed. `/api/v1/parcel/match` checks an address for free before you pay. - **People who own property stay private.** A parcel record shows the owner only when it is a company, church, school district, government body or similar organization. - **Company records carry trade licenses only.** Texas has no license for general contractors or home builders, and plumbers are licensed by a separate board. - **Year to date totals can disagree.** For some places the year to date permit total includes late reports and corrections that the monthly rows do not. The answer lists those places. - **v1 stays compatible.** From Oct 3, 2026, v1 changes are additive: fields and endpoints may be added, none renamed or removed. A breaking change would ship under a new version path. [`/api/v1/changelog.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/api/v1/changelog.json) ## Docs - [`/api/v1`](https://fronterasignal.com/api/v1): the catalog. Every endpoint with its price, parameters, cadence, coverage and a sample request. - [`/openapi.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/openapi.json): OpenAPI 3.1 with response schemas, real examples and every error code. - [`/.well-known/x402`](https://fronterasignal.com/.well-known/x402): x402 discovery, for indexes and agent marketplaces. - [`/llms.txt`](https://fronterasignal.com/llms.txt): a plain text guide to the site and the API, for language models. - `/mcp`: a free MCP server for agent clients: it lists the endpoints, returns the samples and builds the paid call. It never charges or pays. - `/a2a`: a free A2A agent (A2A 1.0, JSON RPC): name an endpoint or a Valley city and it answers with the paid URL and its price. It never charges or pays. - [`/data/v1/samples/index.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/index.json): every free sample in one list. - [`/api/v1/health`](https://fronterasignal.com/api/v1/health) and [`/api/v1/changelog.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/api/v1/changelog.json): service status and every change to v1. Questions about the API: [hello@fronterasignal.com](mailto:hello@fronterasignal.com) ## Free data The weekly data behind each issue, free in JSON format. Every row is dated. The free files carry the latest 4 weeks of each series; the paid series endpoints carry the full history. [`/data/v1/index.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/index.json) - JSON · week 44 of 2026 · 465 rows ### Absorption and inventory Months of supply, days on market and listings by metro. [`/data/v1/absorption.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/absorption.json) - JSON · week 44 of 2026 · 106 rows ### Forecast record Every dated forecast and how it turned out: hit, miss, push or still open. [`/data/v1/calls.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/calls.json) - JSON · week 44 of 2026 · 465 rows ### Materials basket Weekly price and trend for framing lumber, OSB, drywall, copper, diesel and mortgage rates. [`/data/v1/cost-basket-weekly.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/cost-basket-weekly.json) - JSON · week 30 of 2026 · 45 rows ### Labor and capacity Build times and jobsite enforcement for the Valley as a whole, with no company level data. [`/data/v1/labor-ranges.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/labor-ranges.json) - JSON · week 44 of 2026 · 240 rows ### Permits by city and week Permit counts by city and type, with the week marked as no data where a city publishes nothing. [`/data/v1/permits-weekly.json`](https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/permits-weekly.json) [Terms](https://fronterasignal.com/terms/)