Horizon City, Texas

Area Profile

23,668 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Horizon City, in El Paso County.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 45% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2258th of 3,904 cities measured52
Schools2395th of 2,668 cities measured19
GrowthTop 3% of 2,973 cities measured83
Housing affordabilityTop 37% of 4,223 cities measured88
Climate2888th of 4,223 cities measured64
Physical resilienceTop 42% of 4,182 cities measured66
Access3173rd of 4,226 cities measured82
Economic stability2850th of 4,226 cities measured51
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.9% and median household income $65,737, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

In the public schools here, 26% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.1 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 275 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 50% on the prior year.

At a glance

Population
23,668
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,737
Bottom 48% nationally
Density
2,716/sq mi
8.7 sq mi of land
Median age
29.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
El Paso County
Texas
Metro area
El Paso, TX
Nearest major airport
DNA
33 mi · Dona Ana County Intl Jetport
Median home value
$170,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% is lower than 28% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 400,658 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$10,984$65,737Bottom 48%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,565$22,788Bottom 14%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate22.0%Top 20%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.6 minTop 31%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher21.0%Top 49%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment400,658Top 18%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.2%Top 6%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.4%Top 38%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force421,283Top 18%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation66.3%Top 29%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$51,870Bottom 2%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$39,510Bottom 1%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.5%Top 29%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate4.9%Top 28%of 3,904June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202466k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,737 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 publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for El Paso County, TX, which contains this city.

26% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 29% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.1 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
20
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
25.8%
Bottom 19% in Texas
Reading proficiency
29.0%
Bottom 12% in Texas
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
EASTLAKE H SSOCORRO ISD3,00418.0
HORIZON H SCLINT ISD1,46915.0
HARMONY SCHOOL OF SCIENCE - EL PASO · charterHARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS - WEST TEXAS1,30817.730%30%
DR SUE A SHOOK SCHOOLSOCORRO ISD1,16719.127%32%
COL JOHN O ENSOR MIDDLESOCORRO ISD1,07017.347%42%
BEN NARBUTH ELSOCORRO ISD1,05420.7
MISSION RIDGESOCORRO ISD1,05218.813%25%
JOHN DRUGAN SCHOOLSOCORRO ISD99017.129%47%
FRANK MACIAS ELCLINT ISD97516.812%16%
HORIZON HEIGHTS ELSOCORRO ISD94717.235%37%
DESERT HILLS ELCLINT ISD92816.324%24%
EASTLAKE MIDDLESOCORRO ISD78717.9

73.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Texas’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,280 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.6 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,280
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$170,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.59Bottom 40%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate85.2%Top 30%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4987,325Top 8%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$204$1,280Top 29%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,669$170,200Bottom 45%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.4%Top 23%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.8%Bottom 28%of 32,0012024 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
83/ 100
Top 3% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 3 consecutive years, 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 grown 9% since 2020, reaching 24,802 in 2024.

Permit activity has fallen for 3 consecutive years.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 11.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
275
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
11.6
Top 10% nationally
Year over year
+50%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202425k23k
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
20202022202320242025304159
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−24%).

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, 14.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index112.02024 calendar year
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
Days above AQI 100632024 calendar year
Median air quality index67.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing38°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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

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.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

El Paso County records 3.4 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 10.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.3 per 100,000 residents in El Paso County.

Homicide
3.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
12.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for El Paso County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Horizon City rather than Horizon City itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 33 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dona Ana County Intl JetportDNA33 mi9,550 ft
Alamogordo-White Sands RgnlALM81 mi9,207 ft
Deming MuniDMN98 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
62
Your Score

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

Other cities in El Paso, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
El PasoEl Paso County680,13061vs Horizon City
SocorroEl Paso County37,12355vs Horizon City
Fort BlissEl Paso County11,460vs Horizon City
San ElizarioEl Paso County10,116vs Horizon City

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 Horizon City

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7992886,599$76,64365