AreaProfile

El Paso, TX

Metro Area Profile

874,182 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the El Paso, TX metropolitan area.

60
Area Score
Bottom 24% of 99 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity74th of 99 published metros48
Growth66th of 99 published metros41
Housing affordabilityTop 33% of 99 published metros91
Climate62nd of 99 published metros68
Physical resilienceTop 37% of 99 published metros66
Access95th of 99 published metros54
Economic stability83rd of 99 published metros50
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 4.9% and the Opportunity signal places El Paso in the bottom 26%.

Its Area Score of 60 places El Paso in the top 76% of published metro profiles.

At a glance

Population
874,182
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$59,751
Bottom 26% nationally
Density
157/sq mi
5584.0 sq mi of land
Median age
33.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
El Paso, TX
Nearest major airport
DNA
74 mi · Dona Ana County Intl Jetport
Median home value
$180,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% is lower than 23% of the 99 measured US metros.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 401,729 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,132$59,751Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$446$28,456Bottom 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.7%Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.5 minTop 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher25.9%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment401,729Bottom 37%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.2%Top 2%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.4%Top 36%June 2026
Labor force422,408Bottom 37%June 2026
Labor force participation62.5%Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$51,870Bottom 2%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$39,510Bottom 2%2025 OEWS
Metro employment339,120Bottom 33%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.5%Top 29%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.9%Top 23%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/066.83.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.9% in June 2026.
Largest occupations — El Paso, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides14,310$23,200
Fast Food and Counter Workers13,520$23,030
Customer Service Representatives10,680$37,640
Retail Salespersons10,070$27,330
General and Operations Managers7,850$77,770
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers7,850$49,270

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,079 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
21.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,079
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$180,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.02Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate64.3%Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±170324,704Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$14$1,079Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,427$180,200Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.7%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.5%Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
41/ 100
Ranks 66 of 99 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 879,392 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 6% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
2,032
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Bottom 19% nationally
Year over year
−7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
6.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024879k870k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.2 inches, including 1.1 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CORNUDAS SVC STN, 17.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation11.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing38°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

66 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail, cold wave and drought.

HailElevated
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, heat wave, inland flooding, strong wind, earthquake, wildfire, ice storm, landslide, hurricane, tornado, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 74 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dona Ana County Intl JetportDNA74 mi9,550 ft
Alamogordo-White Sands RgnlALM95 mi9,207 ft
Sierra Blanca RgnlSRR134 mi8,120 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
60
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

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