El Paso, Texas Cost Of Living

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B+

Overall 14%

Goods & Services 11%

Housing 30%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

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	86	91	100
Goods & Services	89	95	100
Groceries	102	90	100
Health care	100	97	100
Housing	70	83	100
Transportation	98	94	100
Utilities	86	102	100

Key findings

The cost of living in El Paso is 6% lower than the Texas average
The cost of living in El Paso is 14% 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	$20.56	$17.49	17.6%
Beauty Salon	$28.33	$38.17	25.8%
Toothpaste	$2.08	$2.32	10.4%
Shampoo	$0.94	$1.01	7.1%
Movie	$10.85	$10.72	1.2%
Bowling	$15.62	$13.86	12.7%

Groceries

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.46	$3.90	11.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.95	$1.40	39.7%
Milk	$2.12	$1.96	8.0%
Potatoes	$4.06	$3.18	27.6%
Pizza	$9.99	$10.39	3.9%
Beer	$9.28	$9.23	0.5%

Health Care

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$100.75	$106.34	5.3%
Doctor	$110.11	$115.25	4.5%
Dentist	$95.89	$98.38	2.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.81	$9.26	16.7%
Lipitor	$488.48	$466.47	4.7%

Housing

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$119,300.00	$184,700.00	35.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$895.24	$1,273.32	29.7%
Apartment Rent	$769.00	$949.00	19.0%

Transportation

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.71	$2.59	4.6%
Tire Balancing	$44.19	$48.90	9.6%

Utilities

Item	El Paso	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$124.64	$167.60	25.6%
Phone	$182.64	$163.42	11.8%

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, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Sparks, TX	4,208	76	-24%
San Elizario, TX	9,144	78	-22%
Canutillo, TX	5,695	79	-21%
Westway, TX	4,107	80	-20%
Vinton, TX	1,549	80	-20%
El Paso, TX	678,058	86	-14%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Detroit, MI	683,443	83	-17%
Seattle, WA	668,849	158	58%
Denver, CO	663,303	114	14%
Washington, DC	659,009	152	52%
Boston, MA	658,279	145	45%
El Paso, TX	678,058	86	-14%

Source: The El Paso, TX cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.

El Paso, TX Cost of Living

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