Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
El Paso County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in El Paso County pays $3,660 a year, an effective rate of 2.03%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,660
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 2.03%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +84%
- vs U.S. average
- #1 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in El Paso County pay a median $3,660 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 2.03%, more affordable than 2% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,660
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 2.03%
- Effective rate on median home
- #3061 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +84%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($180,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 870,779. Owner-occupied homes: 192,456.
The median annual property tax in El Paso County is $3,660, which is 14% lower than the Texas state average and 84% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 2.03% on a median home value of $180,400. Property taxes represent 6.1% of the median household income in this county.
El Paso County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate is a national headwind
El Paso County's 2.03% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 98% pay more.
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in El Paso County pay a median annual property tax of $3,660, far above the national median and notably lower than the Texas state median. On a $180,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 2.03% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in El Paso County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.1% of the $59,806 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Low among Texas counties by effective rate
El Paso County ranks #1 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (100% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in El Paso County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 10.8% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 56% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 42.6%, the median bill rose 27.2% to $3,660: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 27% from $2,878 to $3,660. These ACS medians describe the reported change; they do not identify whether a levy, assessment, home value, or change in the responding households caused it.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 108,390 of 192,456 owner-occupied homes (56.3%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
A top-quartile rate meets below-median earnings here, and the median bill reaches 6.1% of median household income. A rate ranking places this county by the rate alone; the ratio above is the figure that accounts for what is earned here.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
El Paso County is an outlier inside Texas
Across the 250 Texas counties with a published rate, the average effective rate is 1.21%. El Paso County is at 2.03%, which sits 2.8 standard deviations above that average. Fewer than one county in twenty nationally is this far from its own state's centre, so a state-level average is a poor guide to what is owed here.
Standard deviations are computed across every county in the state with a published effective rate for 2024; states with fewer than five such counties are not assessed.
What El Paso County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of El Paso County homeowners, 108,390 of 192,456 owner-occupied homes (56.3%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 7.6% (14,654)
- $800 to $1,499 9.2% (17,786)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.6% (12,675)
- $2,000 to $2,999 13.6% (26,134)
- $3,000 or more 56.3% (108,390)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
12,817 homes here (6.7%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in El Paso County pay a substantially higher bill, 58% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
El Paso County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
El Paso County's effective rate is higher than 100% of the 250 counties in Texas - ranking #1 of 250.
Where El Paso County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
2.03% more affordable than 2% of 3,135 U.S. counties
Show national distribution
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more U.S. counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024
Among the highest-taxed counties in the country
At 2.03%, El Paso County sits in the top 2% of all U.S. counties by effective property-tax rate. That is the rate, not the bill: a high rate on a modest home can still produce a smaller cheque than a low rate on an expensive one, which is why the $3,660 median bill is the number to compare against another county.
El Paso County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | El Paso County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 6.1% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
El Paso County's PEAK · HEAVY lane - is an appeal worth running?
On El Paso County's published figures (PEAK · HEAVY), a $180,400 median home carries a $3,660 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $366 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Texas.
El Paso County rate trail · PEAK
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,660 +4.9% | 2.03% |
| 2023 | $3,490 +6.3% | 2.09% |
| 2022 | $3,282 +8.2% | 2.14% |
| 2021 | $3,032 +5.4% | 2.31% |
| 2020 | $2,878 | 2.28% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
El Paso County: tax takes 6.1% of income
Counties near El Paso County's effective rate
On effective rate, El Paso County sits nearest Schoharie County (NY), Pawnee County (KS), Elk County (KS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Sumner County (KS), Clay County (IN), Calhoun County (GA).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
El Paso County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 10,950 of 406,360 returns from El Paso County reported real estate taxes, averaging $8,241 - 30% of those reporters sat in the $100-200k AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Texas
El Paso County rate FAQs
- How does El Paso County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in El Paso County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 2.03% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in El Paso County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in El Paso County is $3,660, an effective rate of 2.03% on a $180,400 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for El Paso County?
- El Paso County, Texas scores F (7/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is housing pressure at D (3.02×). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in El Paso County?
- Property taxes in El Paso County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.1% of the $59,806 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in El Paso County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for El Paso County jumped 27.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,878 to $3,660, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
What to do with El Paso County's PEAK rate
El Paso County's $3,660 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 6.1% of El Paso County's $59,806 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for El Paso County's PEAK effective rate, then a disjoint out-of-state bill set so the two neighborhoods stay distinct.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 2.03%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,660/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with El Paso County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for El Paso County (PEAK · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PEAK HEAVY
Brown County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,663/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 1.38% vs El Paso County 2.03%.
Cass County, NE
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,652/yr (near-tied bill ABS $8); rate 1.43% vs El Paso County 2.03%.
Hamilton County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,652/yr (near-tied bill ABS $8); rate 1.51% vs El Paso County 2.03%.
Outagamie County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,668/yr (near-tied bill ABS $8); rate 1.37% vs El Paso County 2.03%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
El Paso County stamps PEAK · HEAVY - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 El Paso County (PEAK · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.