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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
The numbers are clear: 2 of 2 cities beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 111. El Paso stands out at 84 on the index, with rent of $1,441/month and household income of $58,734. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data.
The numbers are clear: 2 of 2 cities beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 111. El Paso stands out at 84 on the index, with rent of $1,441/month and household income of $58,734. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data.
Real talk: What does daily life actually cost in El Paso? Start with the 29% rent-to-income ratio — tight but manageable for most households. On the category level, Housing (index 84) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 97) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $58,734 and homes at $231,886 round out a profile that ranks #1 for clear reasons.
Look, If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
#1 Ranked: El Paso, TX — cost index 84, rent $1,441/mo, income $58,734
2 of 2 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 111
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
678,958 residents · Texas
What does daily life actually cost in El Paso? Start with the 29% rent-to-income ratio — tight but manageable for most households. On the category level, Housing (index 84) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 97) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $58,734 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — and homes at $231,886 round out a profile that ranks #1 for clear reasons.
618,639 residents · Tennessee
The #2 spot goes to Memphis, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,234/month — saving renters $7,932 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 72, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 94. A 29% rent-to-income ratio keeps most households inside the safe zone.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
El Paso (ranked #1) has a cost index of 84 and rent of $1,441/mo, while Memphis (ranked #2) has a cost index of 72 and rent of $1,234/mo — a 12-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in El Paso is $1,441/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $454 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in El Paso is $231,886, which is 3.9× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.