Route comparison
San Antonio, TX vs El Paso, TX: Cost of Living
Compare San Antonio, TX and El Paso, TX using historical BEA 2024 price indexes and HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR benchmarks. Add your own salary, lease and moving quote to a budget summary.
San Antonio, TX
TX
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 94.716
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 94.575
- 2024 goods RPP
- 93.757
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $1,441/mo
City name is shorthand for an area benchmark. This September 2026 review did not recheck this area's full BEA/HUD geographic mapping.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
El Paso, TX
TX
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 89.912
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 71.248
- 2024 goods RPP
- 93.757
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $1,146/mo
City name is shorthand for an area benchmark. This September 2026 review did not recheck this area's full BEA/HUD geographic mapping.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Historical RPP salary illustration
In the BEA 2024 benchmark, El Paso, TX has a lower overall price level than San Antonio, TX by about 5.1% (RPP 94.716 to 89.912).
$60,000 in San Antonio, TX
-> $56,957
in El Paso, TX
$100,000 in San Antonio, TX
-> $94,928
in El Paso, TX
$150,000 in San Antonio, TX
-> $142,392
in El Paso, TX
Salary illustrations use BEA 2024 overall Regional Price Parities (RPP) only, before tax and household-specific adjustments. Overall RPP already includes housing. HUD FY2027 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a separate historical gross-rent benchmark, not a current lease or median rent. Do not add rent to the RPP salary figure. Your lease and moving quote belong in a separate budget. Not financial advice.
Step 2: what will the move itself cost?
Put your actual lease, deposit, overlap rent and mover quote beside the historical salary illustration. Leave amounts you do not yet know blank.
Migration signal: San Antonio, TX vs El Paso, TX
IRS tax-return migration · 2022-2023San Antonio, TX
- Net people
- +16,015
- Net rank
- #6 of 65
- Top origin share
- 6%
- Top destination share
- 7%
Largest source: Travis County, TX. Largest destination: Travis County, TX.
El Paso, TX
- Net people
- −3,241
- Net rank
- #44 of 65
- Top origin share
- 10%
- Top destination share
- 10%
Largest source: Doña Ana County, NM. Largest destination: Doña Ana County, NM.
Rent delta: El Paso, TX is $295/mo lower for HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR than San Antonio, TX. Housing RPP moves from 94.575 to 71.248.
Migration figures are derived from IRS SOI county-to-county migration data for 2022-2023, mapped to metros via Census CBSA delineation. Small county-to-county flows are IRS-suppressed, so per-metro totals are lower bounds. Source: IRS SOI migration data.
Frequently asked questions
- Is El Paso, TX cheaper or more expensive than San Antonio, TX?
- In the BEA 2024 benchmark, El Paso, TX (RPP 89.912) has an overall price level about 5.1% lower than San Antonio, TX (RPP 94.716). This does not measure your current household costs.
- What salary do I need in El Paso, TX if I earn $100,000 in San Antonio, TX?
- The historical RPP illustration is approximately $94,928 in El Paso, TX, using $100,000 x (89.912 / 94.716). It uses BEA 2024 overall price indexes before tax and household adjustments; HUD rent is not added to this figure.
- Which metro had stronger net migration, San Antonio, TX or El Paso, TX?
- For 2022-2023, San Antonio, TX had a net gain of 16,015 people, while El Paso, TX had a net loss of 3,241 people. IRS small-flow suppression means these are lower-bound research signals, not complete population-change totals.