AreaProfile

79936El Paso, Texas

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 79936.

66
Area Score
Top 36% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 47% of 4,073 published ZIP areas56
Growth2092nd of 3,947 published ZIP areas49
Housing affordabilityTop 27% of 4,553 published ZIP areas90
Climate3083rd of 4,621 published ZIP areas64
Physical resilienceTop 41% of 4,554 published ZIP areas66
Access3397th of 4,623 published ZIP areas87
Economic stabilityTop 50% of 4,591 published ZIP areas60
The quick read

Its Area Score of 66 places 79936 in the top 36% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
102,991
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,198
Bottom 43% nationally
Density
3,977/sq mi
25.9 sq mi of land
Median age
35.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
El Paso
Texas
Metro area
El Paso, TX
Nearest major airport
DNA
25 mi · Dona Ana County Intl Jetport
Median home value
$179,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 37% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

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

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,165$67,198Bottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,117$30,088Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.1%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.0 minBottom 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher27.7%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment318,602Top 10%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.1%Top 5%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.4%Top 34%June 2026
Labor force334,570Top 10%June 2026
Labor force participation65.0%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$51,870Bottom 2%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$39,510Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.6%Top 28%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 37%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202467k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,198 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.

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,264 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.7 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
22.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,264
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$179,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.66Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.5%Bottom 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±90336,663Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$42$1,264Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,075$179,000Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.6%Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate3.7%Bottom 16%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
49/ 100
Ranks 2092 of 3,947 published city 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: 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 ZIP areas.

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

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, 5.4 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. 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.

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 25 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dona Ana County Intl JetportDNA25 mi9,550 ft
Alamogordo-White Sands RgnlALM76 mi9,207 ft
Deming MuniDMN90 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.

79936 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.

79936
El Paso
Median household income
$67,198
vs
$59,745
Per capita income
$30,088
vs
$29,956
Population density
3,977/sq mi
vs
2,628/sq mi
Median home value
$179,000
vs
$184,500
Median gross rent
$1,264
vs
$1,073
Homeownership rate
70.5%
vs
60.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher
27.7%
vs
28.1%
Poverty rate
13.1%
vs
18.4%
Median age
35.7
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.