Dallas vs El Paso Cost of Living
El Paso is approximately 8.1% cheaper than Dallas. See salary equivalence, taxes, and side-by-side breakdown.
Dallas, TX
El Paso, TX
| Salary in Dallas | Equivalent in El Paso | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,000 | -$4,000 (-8.0%) |
| $75,000 | $68,900 | -$6,100 (-8.1%) |
| $100,000 | $91,900 | -$8,100 (-8.1%) |
| $150,000 | $137,900 | -$12,100 (-8.1%) |
| $200,000 | $183,800 | -$16,200 (-8.1%) |
Dallas is roughly 8% more expensive overall, and housing is doing almost all of the work: a one-bedroom runs $1,350 in Dallas against $900 in El Paso.
Housing does most of the damage
Housing is the reason two metros differ at all. Everything else — groceries, a haircut, a phone plan — varies far less than rent does. A one-bedroom runs about $1,350 a month in Dallas and $900 in El Paso — $450 a month apart, or $5,400 a year.
If you plan to buy rather than rent, the numbers move further apart: median prices of $400,000 and $220,000 mean a difference of about $36,000 in up-front cash at 20% down, plus whatever the property tax spread between Texas and Texas adds annually.
The price-to-rent ratios diverge enough to change the buy-versus-rent answer: about 20 in El Paso versus 25 in Dallas. Under about 15 the math favours owning; over about 20 it favours renting and putting the down payment to work elsewhere. Which means the right answer can genuinely be to buy in one and rent in the other.
Getting around
Dallas is served by limited transit; El Paso is effectively car-dependent.
Work, weather, and what else is different
Dallas is a major metro of about 7.9M and growing fast; El Paso is a smaller metro of about 0.9M and growing steadily.
The two economies have little in common. Dallas runs on telecommunications, banking/finance, technology — AT&T (headquarters) and American Airlines (Fort Worth headquarters) among the larger employers — while El Paso runs on defense/military, manufacturing, logistics/trade, with Fort Bliss (Army) and El Paso ISD. Moving between them usually means changing industry as well as address, so line up work first.
Climate belongs in the comparison, not as a footnote. Dallas: Humid subtropical: January highs near 56°F/lows 36°F, July highs near 96°F/lows 76°F, hot summers. El Paso: January highs near 57°F/lows near 32°F, sunny and dry; July highs near 96°F/lows near 71°F, desert heat.
No state income tax, offset by high property taxes — effective rates in the Dallas metro commonly exceed 2%, among the highest in the country. No state or local income tax, and one of the cheapest large metros in the US for housing, but property tax rates in El Paso County run around 2.2-2.4%.
The index behind the headline ratio is BEA Regional Price Parity data; rents and home prices are market figures, and tax rates are as published by each state and city. How these are compiled and updated.
Related tools
Paycheck calculator — take-home after federal, state and local tax. Salary calculator — hourly and annual conversion. Mortgage calculator — what a home in either metro actually costs monthly. Guide: the true cost of relocating.