El Paso, Texas Cost Of Living

Buy Rent

B

Overall 10%

Goods & Services 0%

Housing 30%

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	El Paso	Texas	National
Cost of living	90	92	100
Goods & Services	100	97	100
Groceries	101	91	100
Health care	97	95	100
Housing	70	83	100
Transportation	102	94	100
Utilities	91	103	100

Key findings

The cost of living in El Paso is 2% lower than the Texas average
The cost of living in El Paso is 10% lower than the national average
El Paso housing is 30% lower than the national average
Texas general sales tax is 23% higher than the national average
Texas state income tax is 100% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$56,192	$4,683	$1,311	$1,686
Renters	$28,709	$2,392	$670	$861

The percent of monthly income spent on housing can be a good indicator of the affordability of housing in El Paso, TX, as well as the overall cost of living. As a general rule of thumb, the debt-to-income ratio (DTI) for homeowners or renters should be not more than 28 percent of gross income to be spent on housing related costs and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses, including debts. The median income for El Paso homeowners, is $56,192. This would allow for a maximum of $1,311 per month to be spent on housing costs. For renters, the median monthly income is $28,709 which would result in a maximum of $670 to be spent on rental costs.

Texas Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Texas	6.25%	8.25%

Texas Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Texas	0%	0%

Goods & Services

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$19.55	$20.27	3.6%
Beauty Salon	$26.43	$40.39	34.6%
Toothpaste	$2.36	$2.36	0.1%
Shampoo	$1.11	$1.08	3.1%
Movie	$10.22	$10.99	7.0%
Bowling	$13.53	$15.49	12.7%

Groceries

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.81	$4.30	12.0%
Fried Chicken	$1.82	$1.40	30.1%
Milk	$2.31	$2.20	4.9%
Potatoes	$3.84	$3.22	19.4%
Pizza	$10.99	$10.74	2.4%
Beer	$10.83	$9.60	12.9%

Health Care

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$85.12	$109.73	22.4%
Doctor	$144.83	$118.34	22.4%
Dentist	$80.20	$100.94	20.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.27	$9.93	3.4%
Lipitor	$490.54	$469.53	4.5%

Housing

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$119,300.00	$184,700.00	35.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$829.78	$1,229.62	32.5%
Apartment Rent	$769.00	$949.00	19.0%

Transportation

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.60	$2.71	4.0%
Tire Balancing	$58.31	$51.86	12.4%

Utilities

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$141.55	$170.84	17.1%
Phone	$188.86	$187.18	0.9%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Sparks, TX	4,208	80	20.3%
San Elizario, TX	9,144	82	18.2%
Canutillo, TX	5,695	83	16.8%
Westway, TX	4,107	84	16.1%
Vinton, TX	1,549	84	15.8%
El Paso, TX	678,058	90	10.0%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Detroit, MI	683,443	84	15.7%
Seattle, WA	668,849	157	56.5%
Denver, CO	663,303	116	15.7%
Vancouver, BC	694,440	n/a
Washington, DC	659,009	151	50.5%
El Paso, TX	678,058	90	10.0%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.