El Paso homeowners pay less in property taxes than residents of most other large Texas urban areas, despite the city's reputation for having the state's highest tax burden, according to an analysis published September 28 by El Paso Matters. The analysis, based on Tax Foundation and Census Bureau data, found that El Paso County residents paid a smaller share of their household income toward property taxes in 2024 than nine of Texas' 12 most populous counties. The findings come as property tax bills arrive in mailboxes ahead of the November 3 general election, where taxation has emerged as a major campaign issue in races for City Council and County Commissioners Court.
In El Paso County, the median property tax bill consumed 6.1% of the median household income in 2024, the most recent year with available data. Only three counties had lower percentages: Montgomery County and Harris County in the Houston area, and Hidalgo County in the Rio Grande Valley. Harris County residents, the next lowest after the two border counties, paid 18% more than El Paso County residents in median property taxes. At the high end, Travis County — home to Austin — residents paid 111% more than El Paso County residents. El Paso's median household income in 2024 stood just below $60,000, which was 17% to 51% lower than the other 10 large Texas counties analyzed and exceeded only Hidalgo County, another border community.
The report notes that when media and elected officials describe El Pasoans as having among the highest tax burdens, they're typically pointing to tax rates rather than actual tax bills. According to the analysis, this focus is "incomplete at best, or even misleading," because property tax bills depend on both the tax rate and the taxable value of the property. El Pasoans face much higher tax rates than other populous Texas counties, but they also have far lower home values except for Hidalgo County. The report identifies two border counties — El Paso and Hidalgo — as having the lowest median property tax payments among Texas' 12 largest counties "by a lot."
The analysis explains that in Texas, tax rates and property values tend to move in opposite directions: the higher the property value, the lower the tax rates, and vice versa. This inverse relationship means that El Paso's low home values drive up the tax rates needed to fund local government services, even as the actual dollar amounts residents pay remain lower than most other major Texas metros. The lower property values stem from El Paso's position as a border city with significantly lower household incomes than other large Texas counties. Most local governments in El Paso raised property taxes this year as both their budgets and taxpayer finances face pressure from rising costs, meaning most homeowners will see increases over last year's bills.
The report frames property tax bills as a prime example of what behavioral economists call "pain of paying" — the psychological hurt that makes people reluctant to spend money. Getting their tax bills in October, and paying them in December or January, will cause pain for El Pasoans just as early voting begins. But the only consolation, the analysis suggests, is that Texans in other metropolitan areas are experiencing much worse pain.