79912 — El Paso, Texas

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 79912. Its median home value runs 43% above El Paso as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 25% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
OpportunityTop 33% of 3,116 ZIP areas measured62
SchoolsTop 17% of 3,047 ZIP areas measured76
Growth1,734th of 3,124 ZIP areas measured48
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured72
Climate2,152nd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured64
Physical resilienceTop 40% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured66
AccessTop 30% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured97
Economic stability1,973rd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured47
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.6% and median household income $72,943, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for El Paso, TX, which contains 79912, rather than for 79912 alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 67% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 17% of published profiles for schools.

1,624 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 12% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for El Paso, TX, which contains 79912, rather than for 79912 alone.

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
78,819
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$72,943
Top 48% nationally
Density
3,328/sq mi
23.7 sq mi of land
Median age
33.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
El Paso
Texas
Metro area
Nearest major airport
DNA
10 mi · Dona Ana County Intl Jetport
Median home value
$264,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across El Paso, TX, which contains 79912, is 4.6% — higher than in all but 41% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across El Paso, TX, which contains 79912, held steady over the past year, at 320,049 employed residents.

49% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsEl Paso County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$53,54017th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftEl Paso County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$57,75927th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,1352024 ACS 5-Year$72,943Top 48%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,4092024 ACS 5-Year$43,106Top 31%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.5%Bottom 39%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.4 minTop 32%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year49.2%Top 13%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.3%40th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentEl Paso, TX’s figureJuly 2026320,049Top 14%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)El Paso, TX’s figureJuly 2026+4.4%Top 9%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)El Paso, TX’s figureJuly 20260.0%Top 36%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceEl Paso, TX’s figureJuly 2026335,57086th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.8%Top 39%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageEl Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$51,870Bottom 3%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageEl Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$39,510Bottom 2%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year1.0%80th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)El Paso, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.1%Bottom 40%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateEl Paso, TX’s figureJuly 20264.6%Bottom 41%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.9%65th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202473k67k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $72,943 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for El Paso, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.

67% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 58% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.8 students for every full-time teacher across 19 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
19
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
66.6%
Top 10% in Texas
Reading proficiency
58.1%
Top 19% in Texas
The 12 largest of 19 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Franklin H SEL PASO ISD2,83519.269%56%
Coronado H SEL PASO ISD2,57619.169%51%
Hornedo MiddleEL PASO ISD1,44218.077%68%
Davinci School for Science and the Arts · charterBURNHAM WOOD CHARTER SCHOOL DISTRICT98217.558%51%
Charles Q Murphree Pk-8EL PASO ISD84614.6——
Marguerite J Lundy ElEL PASO ISD83115.472%71%
Tippin ElEL PASO ISD78415.771%74%
Brown MiddleEL PASO ISD69916.648%48%
Polk ElEL PASO ISD64915.875%73%
Idea Mesa Hills Academy · charterIDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS64321.4——
Idea Mesa Hills College Preparatory · charterIDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS53318.4——
Western Hills ElEL PASO ISD43613.652%53%

57.3% 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 $5,761 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.18% 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, close to the $1,238 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 65% of the median household income here of $72,943.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,238 a month.

A median home at $264,200 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $106,913, 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
30.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,191
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,238
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$264,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 79912’s median household income of $72,943, 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 14%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the El Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.2%35th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the El Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+48.0%70th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the El Paso, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+87.7%38th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 41%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year53.0%11th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,0012024 ACS 5-Year34,16199th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,013Top 31%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,633Top 32%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,191Top 27%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$352024 ACS 5-Year$1,238Bottom 33%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,5282024 ACS 5-Year$264,20061st percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2452024 ACS 5-Year$5,76191st percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,3382024 ACS 5-Year$106,913Top 24%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.14%2024 ACS 5-Year2.18%96th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.5%Bottom 37%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2092024 ACS 5-Year44693rd percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%53rd percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%61st percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6292024 ACS 5-Year3,48199th percentileof 33,7722024 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 1,734 of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1,624 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 7% are in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for El Paso, TX, which contains 79912, rather than for 79912 alone.

At 2.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for El Paso, TX, which contains 79912, rather than for 79912 alone.

Units permitted
1,624
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.4
Bottom 42% nationally
Year over year
−12%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
7.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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. This is the figure for El Paso County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for El Paso, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.

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, 9.7 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

66 / 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). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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.

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 the county around 79912 (El Paso County) rather than 79912 itself. 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. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. El Paso carries the figure where its 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 10 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year93.9%Top 26%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle10 miTop 27%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 21%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%Top 25%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dona Ana County Intl JetportDNA10 mi9,550 ft
Deming MuniDMN75 mi8,018 ft
Alamogordo-White Sands RgnlALM75 mi9,207 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
65
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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
HousingU.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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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.

79912 vs El Paso

How this ZIP area compares with El Paso as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

79912
El Paso
Median household income: 79912 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$72,943
vs
$59,745
Per capita income: 79912 is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$43,106
vs
$29,956
Population density
3,328/sq mi
vs
2,628/sq mi
Median home value
$264,200
vs
$184,500
Median gross rent: El Paso is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,238
vs
$1,073
Homeownership rate
53.0%
vs
60.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 79912 is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
49.2%
vs
28.1%
Poverty rate: 79912 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
12.5%
vs
18.3%
Median age
33.6
vs
34.5

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.