Texas · 69th largest metro area

Buying a home in El Paso, Texas

In El Paso, the median value of owner-occupied homes is $184,500, El Paso County's effective property tax rate is 2.03%, and a purchase mortgage carried a median $9,252 in total loan costs in 2025.

Data as of : Census ACS 2020-2024, Census Vintage 2024, HMDA 2025, HUD FY 2027. Sources

El Paso home costs, fact by fact

About El Paso

El Paso, Texas, counts 681,723 residents in Census estimates, and its metro area counts 879,392. Owners occupy 60.8% of homes. Median gross rent runs $1,073 per month.

Reading the El Paso figures

El Paso looks quite different when you read its 5 planning areas rather than the city median. Citywide, owners estimate $184,500, far below the Texas figure of $318,100 and close to Abilene ($183,700) or San Angelo ($187,600). Inside the city, Northwest tops the list with $265,000, East follows with $191,000, Northeast shows $161,000, Central reports $133,000 and Mission Valley closes the list at $119,000.

Ownership varies less than price. East has 67.7% owners, Mission Valley 61.6%, Northwest 61.1%, then Northeast 60.8%, while Central drops to 41%. That fits the age of housing: Central has the oldest stock, with a median construction year of 1957 and 78.1% of homes built before 1980, compared with 1990 in East and 1989 in Northwest. Mission Valley has a median year of 1975, and 59.1% of its homes predate 1980.

Rent follows value. Northwest pays $1,220, East $1,210, Northeast $1,100, while Mission Valley reports $890, Central $790. The citywide median is $1,073. HUD's reference for the El Paso metro is $1,146 for a 2-bedroom and $1,559 for a bigger home, a benchmark and not a market median. Taxes work against the lower values. El Paso County's effective rate is 2.03%, giving a median yearly bill of $3,660 where homes are valued around $180,400. Loan costs are also on the heavier side: 7,322 loans in 2025 had a median cost of $9,252, with the typical spread from $5,746 to $12,491. Compared with other covered Texas cities, El Paso's median value is close to Abilene and above Beaumont ($166,400), and well below Corpus Christi ($210,400), Lubbock ($212,400) or Dallas ($320,700). Its 60.8% owner share is higher than Dallas (42.4%), Lubbock (51.2%) or Corpus Christi (57.9%). The sector detail shows why a single city number hides so much: a buyer looking in Northwest would face values near $265,000, while Mission Valley sits at $119,000. Those spreads are why the sector view matters more here than in a city with a single price band. Owners' estimates are not sale prices, and the sector figures are survey medians, so use them to compare areas, not to price one house.

Calculate for Texas

If you buy

Texas state transfer tax

Texas has no real estate transfer tax. Change the price: the amount is recalculated instantly.

Price$318,100
State transfer tax$0
Share of the price—

Default price: the Texas median value of owner-occupied homes, $318,100 (Census ACS 2025). Rule: No transfer tax exists. Buyers pay county recording fees and a state-set title insurance premium. Who pays: No transfer tax to assign. Recording fees and the title insurance premium appear on the closing statement. Not included: county and city transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and lender charges. Texas transfer tax guide · all 50 states.

If you sell

Capital gain and the federal tax on it

Same federal rule in every state: Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code excludes up to $250,000 of gain on a main home ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly).

Capital gain$350,000
Section 121 exclusion$250,000 (limit $250,000)
Taxable gain$100,000
Type of gainLong-term (owned over 1 year), 15% chosen
Federal tax on the gain$15,000

Section 121 excludes $250,000; the rest is taxable.

Gain = sale price minus your adjusted basis (purchase price, buying costs and improvements); selling expenses reduce it (IRS Publication 523). Long-term rates for sales in 2026, by taxable income including the gain (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.03): 0% up to $49,450 single or $98,900 married filing jointly, 15% up to $545,500 single or $613,700 jointly, 20% above. Not included: Texas state income tax on the gain (not computed), the net investment income tax, depreciation recapture on a rental or home office, and the reduced exclusion for an early sale. Agent commissions are negotiated and never set by law. Capital gains on a home sale.

Sectors of El Paso

El Paso is divided into its 5 planning areas, one open spot per trade in each.

  • East (about 207,353 residents, estimate)
  • Northwest (about 129,425 residents, estimate)
  • Northeast (about 113,292 residents, estimate)
  • Central (about 100,365 residents, estimate)
  • Mission Valley (about 89,366 residents, estimate)

Source: City of El Paso GIS, Planning Areas (PlanArea). Population per area is a Payotte estimate: the sum of Census ACS 2020-2024 populations (table B01003) of the 2020 census tracts whose internal point lies inside each official boundary.

Questions about buying a home in El Paso

How much is property tax in El Paso?

Homeowners in El Paso County pay a median $3,660 a year in property tax, 2.03% of the county median home value of $180,400 (Census ACS 2020-2024). Your bill depends on your assessed value and local rates.

What are closing costs on a mortgage in El Paso?

Home-purchase mortgages in El Paso County carried median total loan costs of $9,252 in 2025; half of the 7,322 loans fell between $5,746 and $12,491 (HMDA). Total loan costs are the lender and settlement-service charges of the Closing Disclosure; transfer taxes and prepaid items come on top.

Is there a transfer tax when you buy a home in El Paso?

Texas has no real estate transfer tax. Article VIII, Section 29 of the Texas Constitution, added November 3, 2015, says no law enacted after January 1, 2016 may impose a transfer tax on a transaction that conveys fee simple title to real property.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in El Paso?

It depends on your mortgage rate, down payment and how long you stay. As a benchmark, the median value of owner-occupied homes in El Paso ($184,500) equals 14.3 years of the median gross rent ($1,073 a month), both from Census ACS 2020-2024.

What natural hazards affect home insurance in El Paso?

Across Texas, the main hazards for home insurance are flood, tornado, wind and hail, and the insurer of last resort is Texas FAIR Plan Association (TFPA). Texas gets more tornadoes than any other state, according to the Texas Department of Insurance; on the coast, windstorm coverage comes from a separate policy, often from TWIA, in 14 coastal counties plus part of Harris County.

Run your own numbers: rent vs buy calculator · closing costs calculator.

Texas rules that apply in El Paso

Other large cities in Texas

Who licenses each trade in Texas · All covered cities

Sources

Texas · All states · Federal guides