TRAVEL

It’s Kinda Sorta — But Not Really Like Texas— Mexico or New Mexico

Welcome to El Paso

El Paso is front, while Ciudad Juarez is in the back in this view. Photo by John on Adobe Stock.

An unlikely city in an unforgiving land. That’s El Paso.

Thinking about moving to Texas? Chances are you’ll wind up in “The Metroplex” (Dallas/Fort Worth), Houston (unbearably humid), San Antonio, or what was once a chill city, Austin.

I was born and lived my first ten years in Abilene. I had no choice in the matter. I will forever be known as a Texan, but Texas politics are as far from my values and beliefs as any place could be.

More Californians move here than from any other state, and many of them cite politics as one of the reasons why.

The nearest city that is larger than El Paso, Phoenix, isn’t even in Texas. San Antonio is 551 miles away (7:45), and Fort Worth is 603 miles (8:45). Houston is a longer car ride (10:33) than San Diego (10:22). Nothing is close, so if you relocate here, make an educated decision that you’ll stay for a while.

I have some close personal connections to the area. My dad attended Texas Western University (now The University of Texas at El Paso, or UTEP). He majored in geology, as did all Texans after they got home from the war.

A few years later, my mom and dad eloped in Juarez. I guess back then, Juarez was a respectable place and fun to visit. Drugs weren’t really a thing in the U.S. in 1953.

In 1968, when my mom divorced my first stepfather (read my old stuff, and you’ll understand), our first overnight on the drive out to California, our future home, was El Paso. Mom loved the Sheratons, so that’s where we stayed. Back then, they were like 4–5 star hotels. Now they’re on the level of Holiday Inns.

She thought it would be fun to go to Juarez for a Mexican food dinner, so off we drove across the border, no passports needed. Then things got a little dicey. We were driving on one of the main drags and encountered a parade of trucks loaded with men in the back bearing torches and shouting things in a language we, of course, didn’t understand.

Mom got scared and decided we’d better go back to our safe, “luxurious” hotel. I was hoping we’d go to that little Mexican cantina where music would play, and Felina would whirl. But no, we settled for the hotel restaurant.

The next time I was in El Paso was in 1984 with my ex-wife. We were on our way to Carlsbad Caverns, and decided to overnight there, visiting Juarez the next day. We went to a couple of museums and then called it a day. Still no passport needed.

Finally, I got to know El Paso very well when I got my first DWI there in 2019. I wasn’t supposed to be in El Paso. I was trying to find my way to White Sands National Park in New Mexico — drunk. I’ve always loved day drinking. After a very bad night in the county jail, I was released and made my way to Alamogordo, where I shopped for a DWI attorney in El Paso.

I had to make several subsequent trips to El Paso to report to my probation officer because they wouldn’t transfer the case to New Mexico. I was bummed because there are several gay bars within a two-block stretch, and I do love my Latin men, but not being able to drink kind of killed that idea. I tried to find the Sheraton we had stayed at, but it was gone, so I opted for the Marriott at the airport. I actually had money then. But I did find Rosa’s Cantina. ¡Muy delicioso!

“La Equis” is a 200-foot-tall, 700-ton steel public art structure in Ciudad Juárez. It represents the fusion of Spanish and Indigenous cultures, honors President Benito Juárez, and serves as a symbol of cultural pride. Photo by Dietlinde DuPlessis on Wikimedia Commons.

El Paso is Big!

If you thought El Paso was just a dusty, old outpost, think again. (Although it is dusty!)

The 2025 census population estimate of the city was 682,893. That puts it on par with cities like Boston, Las Vegas, and Detroit. From a metropolitan area standpoint, though, those cities are much larger, numbering in the millions. El Paso’s metro population is only 845,194. In other words, there’s not much outside the city limits, and certainly few suburbs.

If you include the Las Cruces, New Mexico area (known as “The Borderplex”), the combined metropolitan population is 1,108,758.

But the big question is, do you include Ciudad Juárez, just across the Rio Grande, in the total? If you do, now you’re talking about a total metropolitan area of nearly three million people.

But I wouldn’t call it cosmopolitan. When I think of that word, I think of diversity — and El Paso is one of the least diverse cities in the country. 83% of the population identifies as Hispanic, and only 12% are non-Hispanic White. Black or African American residents make up only 3% of the total.

Can I Get a Job There?

Yes, you can-can. (That old Pointer Sisters song just came to mind.) While you may be paid less for the same job elsewhere, the cost of living is significantly lower than the national average, about 12–16% lower. Fort Bliss, a major military base, is the area’s largest employer, followed by UTEP and El Paso Electric. Helen of Troy, a leading manufacturer of personal care and home products, is headquartered in El Paso and is also rated the “Best Company to Work for in the City” by Interwork.com, with El Paso Electric ranked second.

Many U.S. citizens live in Ciudad Juárez and work in El Paso to take advantage of the lower cost of living. Cross-border commuting is very common, but be prepared for long wait times. Juárez’s “maquiladoras”, or manufacturing sector, draws many El Pasoans to work at companies like Honeywell, Lear Corporation, Bosch, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Electrolux, and Toro. Delphi Corporation’s Technical Center is the largest in the Western Hemisphere and employs over 2,000 engineers.

The unemployment rate has ranged from 3.9% to 4.9% over the past year and is currently 4.5%, about the same as the national average (4.7%).

With more than 30,000 active duty servicemen and women at Fort Bliss, I bet it wouldn’t be hard for any woman — or man — to find a wild young cowboy in El Paso.

Gimme Shelter!

One of the major draws to El Paso is low housing costs, about 31–38% below the national average. Rentals are about 26% lower.

The average home value in the city is $234,775, while the median sale price is about $299,000. But remember, since there’s no state tax in Texas, property taxes are on the high side—usually 2.5–3% of a home’s appraised value.

Expect to pay anywhere between $925 and $1,575 per month for a two-bedroom apartment. The current national average is about $1,905. So, as one of my favorite phrases I learned in Spanish 101 states: ¡Qué ganga! (What a bargain!)

There are four border crossings between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. This is the Bridge of the Americas. Photo by CBP Photography on Wikimedia Commons.

How’s the Weather?

Spring: dry and dusty. Summer: hot and dusty. Fall: still hot, not as dusty. Winter: mild days, cool nights.

At an elevation of 3,888 feet, you won’t have hot, humid nights as in other cities in Texas. The temperature differential between day and night, at any time of year, is about 20–25°, so even on the hottest days, it becomes pleasant at night.

Wind and dust may be the major drawbacks of living here. In a new air quality report, El Paso ranked as the most polluted major city in the U.S. in 2025. Overgrazing by cattle in the area has led to desertification and increased dust. Cement plants contribute to it, and a soon-to-be-built data center near Sunland Park, New Mexico, will blow emissions directly towards the city.

Average rainfall is about 8.8 inches, most of it coming during the North American Monsoon season (June 15-September 30). While most years see no snow at all, in December of 1987, a record twenty-two inches of snow fell on the city. I’m sure that warm West Texas sun melted it quickly.

But it’s a Border City. Am I going to get killed?

Au contraire. El Paso’s crime rate is consistently below the national average. It is the third-safest city in Texas after Fort Worth and Arlington, and the eighth-safest in the country. Compare that to similarly sized cities (Albuquerque #49 and Memphis #50). What people tend to remember is the Walmart shooting in 2019, in which the shooter killed 23 people.

The following table shows El Paso’s crime statistics compared with those of similarly sized cities.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Public Safety Initiatives, Nevada Criminal Statistics, CityDesk ABQ, FBI Uniform Crime Rate Per 100,000 People. Homicide Rates for Boston and Las Vegas are for their metropolitan areas, all others for the city proper. N/A: This statistic is not available for Juarez. Homicide Rate and Violent Crime Rate are per 100,000 residents. Table by the author.

On the other hand, Juárez has a “bit” of a problem, mainly due to the violence emanating from drug cartels. Just a few years ago, they were the deadliest city in the world. Now, they are at number nine, so while things have improved, there are still about 3.5 murders daily. Personally, I’d still go there, but probably wouldn’t venture out at night.

Is There Anything to do There?

As the largest city between Phoenix and the Dallas/Fort Worth area, El Paso has plenty to do, just as any large city would. What makes it special is that the Franklin Mountains run right through the heart of the city, which is a great place to hike. This is a desert, so don’t mistake it for the forest-covered mountains you may be thinking of. It’s one of the largest state parks wholly within a city. Mt. Franklin tops out at 7,192 feet, providing some cooling from the hot city below.

Nearby, you have Guadalupe Mountains and Big Bend National Parks in Texas, and Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Parks in New Mexico. There is good camping and many hiking trails in the Organ Mountains National Monument, just outside Las Cruces. There’s even running water in the spring!

While there are no professional sports teams based in El Paso, the small-but-mighty Chihuahuas, a Triple-A baseball team of the San Diego Padres, call El Paso home.

Graphic from my Pinterest collection.

Due to the University and revelers from Juárez crossing the bridges to party at night, El Paso has a respectable nightlife. I have friends here in Albuquerque who often go to El Paso for the weekend. They’re mainly attending drag shows, and I don’t know why, because there is plenty of drag here. In case you wanted to know, there are at least eight gay bars in El Paso, most located in a two-square-block area near the University. Fort Bliss. Gay bars. Don’t ask, don’t tell.

And this just in! U.S. News & World Report ranked El Paso number two among the best large cities to live in 2025–2026 in the U.S.! Oklahoma City was number one, and four other Texas cities were in the top ten.

If I had to live in Texas again, I would choose El Paso because of its landscape and because it’s not humid. And I like the song.