AreaProfile

El Paso, Texas

Area Profile

680,130 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for El Paso, in El Paso County.

66
Area Score
Top 32% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 44% of 139 published cities58
Growth89th of 134 published cities44
Housing affordabilityTop 7% of 150 published cities91
Climate105th of 149 published cities64
Physical resilienceTop 36% of 150 published cities66
Access110th of 149 published cities93
Economic stability111th of 150 published cities45
The quick read

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 22% of median household income.

A major airport is 16 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

Its Area Score of 66 places El Paso in the top 32% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
680,130
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$59,745
Bottom 39% nationally
Density
2,628/sq mi
258.8 sq mi of land
Median age
34.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
El Paso County
Texas
Metro area
El Paso, TX
Nearest major airport
DNA
16 mi · Dona Ana County Intl Jetport
Median home value
$184,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 40% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 318,602 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,347$59,745Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$512$29,956Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.4%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.9 minBottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher28.1%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment318,602Top 17%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.1%Top 3%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.4%Top 31%June 2026
Labor force334,570Top 17%June 2026
Labor force participation62.3%Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$51,870Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$39,510Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.6%Top 29%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/066.63.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202460k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $59,745 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

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 $1,073 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
21.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,073
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$184,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.09Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate60.8%Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±886265,320Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$16$1,073Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,595$184,500Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.6%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.5%Bottom 40%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
44/ 100
Ranks 89 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 681,723 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 7% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,624
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.4
Bottom 29% nationally
Year over year
−12%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
7.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024682k679k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
202020222023202420253k2k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−33%).

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.

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, 4.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation8.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall2.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 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. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. 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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 16 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dona Ana County Intl JetportDNA16 mi9,550 ft
Alamogordo-White Sands RgnlALM73 mi9,207 ft
Deming MuniDMN81 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.

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Area Score
66
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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.

ZIP codes in El Paso

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
79936102,991$67,19865
7991278,819$72,94367
7992460,364$56,97663
7990746,365$41,61759
7992538,621$57,62364
7991534,230$35,43258