Home prices in El Paso run 48% below the national median: $220,000 versus $420,000. Relative to the $48,000 median household income here, the price-to-income ratio comes out to 4.6x.
At a 2.5% effective rate, El Paso property taxes add $458 to the monthly payment on the median home, $5,500 a year in total.
Texas charges no state income tax. Every dollar of the $48,000 median household income here converts more directly into covering the $1,691/month payment.
El Paso's cost of living index is 82, below the 100 national baseline. That's on top of the housing numbers above, not instead of them.
El Paso's median home price runs 29% lower than nearby Houston: $310,000 there versus $220,000 here.