Mithra or Elvaan

[Economizer]

I just want to make sure I don't make another bad choice such as taru+melee.

There are no other bad choices. HP is the only stat that matters (in terms of the differences from races), and Tarutaru are the only race with a deficit over the average.

But if you really want to compare all the races, the races go as follows for their "super" stat: Hume - None (no superpowered stats, but no downsides, although they share average CHR with everyone but Galka and Mithra), Galka - HP/VIT (also above average STR, but lowest MP and below average CHR), Elvaan - STR/MND (low DEX, lowest INT, below average MP), Mithra - DEX/AGI (pretty average in every other stat, although a below average VIT/CHR), Tarutaru -INT/MP (lowest STR, VIT, HP, but above average AGI).

Each stat has its usages (you can check BGwiki for each stat to compare). Your primary stats most of the time for a melee job are HP/STR/DEX. The biggest deficit between these isn't that large with the exception of HP though, so don't worry too much. To compare specific race stats with certain jobs/subjobs check a stat calculator.