El Paso County, TX

County Profile

870,779 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for El Paso County, TX.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 43% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity879th of 1,463 counties measured50
SchoolsTop 26% of 1,377 counties measured69
Growth783rd of 1,453 counties measured48
Housing affordability990th of 1,462 counties measured69
Climate898th of 1,463 counties measured64
Physical resilienceTop 40% of 1,463 counties measured67
AccessTop 40% of 1,463 counties measured85
Economic stability1,031st of 1,463 counties measured43
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $59,806, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 58% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.7 students for every teacher.

2,032 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 7% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
870,779
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$59,806
Bottom 35% nationally
Density
859/sq mi
1,013.5 sq mi of land
Median age
33.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
El Paso County
Texas
Metro area
Nearest major airport
DNA
28 mi · Dona Ana County Intl Jetport
Median home value
$180,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% — higher than in all but 26% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment held steady over the past year, at 402,477 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$53,54034th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$57,75951st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,1412024 ACS 5-Year$59,806Bottom 35%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4472024 ACS 5-Year$28,486Bottom 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$46,918Bottom 13%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year18.7%Bottom 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.5 minTop 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year25.9%Top 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year75.0%33rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026402,477Top 6%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.5%Top 10%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 20260.0%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026422,57694th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year76.0%Top 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%82nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.8%Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%52nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.13.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202460k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $59,806 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

58% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 47% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.7 students for every full-time teacher across 237 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
246
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.7
across 237 of them
Math proficiency
57.6%
Top 12% in Texas
Reading proficiency
46.5%
Top 35% in Texas
The 12 largest of 246 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Eastlake H SSOCORRO ISD3,00418.065%44%
Pebble Hills H SSOCORRO ISD2,95218.282%57%
Franklin H SEL PASO ISD2,83519.269%56%
Socorro H SSOCORRO ISD2,57917.050%39%
Coronado H SEL PASO ISD2,57619.169%51%
Montwood H SSOCORRO ISD2,49917.169%58%
Eastwood H SYSLETA ISD2,29516.010%12%
El Dorado H SSOCORRO ISD2,10916.273%49%
Americas H SSOCORRO ISD2,04916.554%50%
Bel Air H SYSLETA ISD1,86616.280%42%
Del Valle H SYSLETA ISD1,79816.882%51%
Chapin H SEL PASO ISD1,76618.458%52%

74.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Texas’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 9% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 90.8, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the El Paso, TX Metro Area is up 48% over five years, and up 2.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,660 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.03% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,191, some 10% above the $1,079 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,191 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,600 a year, about 80% of the median household income here of $59,806.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,079 a month.

A median home at $180,400 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $73,955, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
90.8

Prices here run about 9% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the El Paso, TX Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,191
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,079
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$180,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against El Paso County’s median household income of $59,806, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe El Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure202390.8Top 24%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the El Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.2%24th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the El Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+48.0%65th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the El Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+87.7%38th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 47%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year64.2%13th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1692024 ACS 5-Year323,57197th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,013Bottom 43%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,633Bottom 42%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,191Bottom 48%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$152024 ACS 5-Year$1,079Bottom 24%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,4082024 ACS 5-Year$180,40049th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$572024 ACS 5-Year$3,66091st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,1712024 ACS 5-Year$73,955Bottom 44%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year2.03%98th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year31.9%Bottom 15%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±5242024 ACS 5-Year2,46987th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%19th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.6%30th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,0652024 ACS 5-Year23,93497th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

48/ 100
Ranks 783 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 5 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 875,784 in 2024.

Permit activity fell in each of the 5 calendar years through 2025.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 2,032 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 6% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show El Paso County lost about 0.6% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $53,540, below the $57,759 of households that moved out.

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

Units permitted
2,032
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Bottom 42% nationally
Year over year
−7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
6.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024876k867k
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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
78%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$53,540
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$57,759
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Doña Ana County, NM 2,001 people · 7.1% of arrivals
  2. Bexar County, TX 913 people · 3.3% of arrivals
  3. Maricopa County, AZ 732 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  4. Los Angeles County, CA 617 people · 2.2% of arrivals
  5. El Paso County, CO 547 people · 1.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Doña Ana County, NM 2,330 people · 7.2% of departures
  2. Bexar County, TX 1,277 people · 4.0% of departures
  3. Maricopa County, AZ 905 people · 2.8% of departures
  4. Tarrant County, TX 697 people · 2.2% of departures
  5. Harris County, TX 662 people · 2.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420253k2k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−38%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 96°F and January a low of 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 8.8 inches, including 2.8 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 67, in the Moderate band, and about 63 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station EL PASO INTL AP, 8.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND1.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year1122024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals8.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals2.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year632024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year672024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
67
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
112
90th percentile index
Days above 100
63
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

67 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hail and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 58% of it. Inland flooding and heat wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

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, volcanic activity, tsunami, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

El Paso County records 3.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 10.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.5 per 100,000 residents in El Paso County.

Homicide
3.6
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
12.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe El Paso County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Dona Ana County Intl Jetport at 28 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year89.8%Top 28%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle28 miTop 40%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%Top 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dona Ana County Intl JetportDNA28 mi9,550 ft
Alamogordo-White Sands RgnlALM76 mi9,207 ft
Deming MuniDMN93 mi8,018 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
61
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.