El Paso County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 31.77, -106.24.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 50th pct · 1,509th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 61st pct · 95th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 45th pct · 1,677th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 72nd pct · 68th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.1%
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 51st pct · 661st of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 58th pct · 41st of 98 Texas counties · median $1,449
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 97th pct · 88th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 97th pct · 7th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 47th pct · 1,683rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 32nd pct · 172nd of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 53rd pct · 1,439th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 69th pct · 74th of 243 Texas counties · median 3.5
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $233,084 (Sep 2026), +2.5% over one year, +32.1% over five
- 50th pct · 1,509th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 61st pct · 95th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| El Paso County, TX | $233,084 · +2.5% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Typical rent $1,521/mo (Sep 2026), +3.5% over one year; price-to-rent 12.8
- 51st pct · 661st of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 58th pct · 41st of 98 Texas counties · median $1,449
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| El Paso County, TX | $1,521/mo · +3.5% 1-yr |
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $1,291 a month on $233,084 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,459 a month: 29.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $233,084 × 80% = $186,467, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,291/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,029 × 52 / 12 = $4,459) = 29% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $233,084 / ($1,029 × 52) = 4.4
- price-to-rent = $233,084 / ($1,521 × 12) = 12.8
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
337,874 jobs at 16,533 employers (2026 Q1); +0.4% jobs and +3.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 97th pct · 88th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 97th pct · 7th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- counties in the El Paso metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the El Paso metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| El Paso County, TX | 337,874 jobs · $1,029/wk · +0.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 51,232 | $918 | 1.01 | +3.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 39,154 | $427 | 1.29 | +1.6% |
| Retail trade | 37,939 | $726 | 1.15 | -0.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 22,577 | $751 | 1.18 | -6.1% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 18,993 | $1,107 | 1.33 | +2.0% |
| Manufacturing | 18,447 | $1,432 | 0.68 | +4.5% |
| Construction | 16,649 | $1,124 | 0.94 | +5.1% |
| Professional and technical services | 13,174 | $1,345 | 0.57 | -1.6% |
| Wholesale trade | 12,499 | $1,497 | 0.97 | -3.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 7,821 | $1,554 | 0.57 | +0.9% |
| Other services | 7,280 | $758 | 0.72 | -0.6% |
| Information | 5,697 | $1,185 | 0.91 | -1.5% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
No USGS monitoring wells within 75 km (or above 1,500 km)
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$11.4 bn in deposits at 83 offices of 16 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,586, moderately concentrated. $10.3 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (contracts $5.7 bn, direct payments $4.4 bn), $30,498 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| WestStar Bank | $2.8 bn · 24.3% share · 13 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2.4 bn · 21.3% share · 10 offices | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $2.0 bn · 17.6% share · 9 offices | |
| El Paso, TX | $10.3 bn FY2026 · $30,498/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $4.1 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| WestStar Bank | $2,783,966,000 | 24.3% | 13 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2,438,090,000 | 21.3% | 10 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $2,010,747,000 | 17.6% | 9 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $1,289,288,000 | 11.3% | 7 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $662,747,000 | 5.8% | 6 |
| Vantage Bank Texas | $606,422,000 | 5.3% | 3 |
| Sunflower Bank, National Association | $606,401,000 | 5.3% | 3 |
| City Bank | $246,031,000 | 2.2% | 2 |
| First National Bank Texas | $234,134,000 | 2.0% | 17 |
| Bank of Texas | $161,056,000 | 1.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,586 across 15 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 15 banks with deposits in the county = 24.3² + 21.3² + 17.6² + … (12 more) = 1,586
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
USAspending place-of-performance obligations for FY2026, by awarding agency.
| Awarding agency | Obligations |
|---|---|
| Department of Homeland Security | $5,145,916,308 |
| Social Security Administration | $2,722,347,196 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $1,333,419,110 |
| Department of Defense | $412,061,986 |
| Department of Education | $198,703,815 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $116,712,941 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $113,742,948 |
| Department of Transportation | $112,283,543 |
| Department of Agriculture | $44,803,348 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $29,539,306 |
| General Services Administration | $17,812,552 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $13,756,997 |
That is $30,498 per covered job, against 337,874 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $10.3 bn / 337,874 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $30,498
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 17.95 | 2026-10-18 | -2.6% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.20 | 2026-10-19 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 7.00 | 2026-10-13 | +133.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 101.91 | 2026-10-14 | +1.0% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.40 | 2026-10-15 | +0.0% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 652,115.00 | 2026-09-01 | +0.7% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
El Paso County, TX: 9 findings, 9 noted
noteEl Paso County, TX's average weekly wage was 3.3% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +3.3 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteEl Paso County, TX's covered employment was 0.4% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteEl Paso County, TX's typical home value rose 0.4% from $232,255 in August 2026 to $233,084 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4% = (233084.05888322563 - 232255.2974191856) / 232255.2974191856 × 100
- 233084.05888322563 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 232255.2974191856 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
noteEl Paso County, TX's typical asking rent rose 0.3% from $1,516 in August 2026 to $1,521 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.3% = (1521.1649952615844 - 1516.101524616578) / 1516.101524616578 × 100
- 1521.1649952615844 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1516.101524616578 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteEl Paso County, TX's covered employment of 337,874 ranks 7th of 254 Texas counties, against a median of 6,022.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 98 on the 0-to-100 scale across 254 Texas counties that published jobs.emp
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 9 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.