El Paso County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 865,657, making it the ninth-most populous county in the state of Texas. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is the city of El Paso, the sixth-most populous city in Texas and the 22nd-most populous city in the United States. The county was created in 1850 and later organized in 1871. ''El Paso'' is short for "El Paso del Norte", which is Spanish for "The Route of the North". It is named for the pass the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

creates through the mountains on either side of the river. The county is northeast of the Mexico–United States border. El Paso County is included in the El Paso metropolitan area. Along with Hudspeth County, it is one of two counties of Texas entirely in the

Mountain Time Zone The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The ...

(all other Texas counties except for northwestern Culberson County use Central Time). El Paso County is one of nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.

Adjacent counties and municipalities

* Doña Ana County, New Mexico – northwest * Otero County, New Mexico – northeast * Hudspeth County – east * Guadalupe, Chihuahua,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

– south * Juárez, Chihuahua,

– south * Práxedis G. Guerrero, Chihuahua, Mexico – southeast

National protected area

* Chamizal National Memorial * El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (part)

Major highways

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 800,647 people living in the county. 82.1% were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

of largely Hispanic descent, 10.5% of other races, 3.1%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 2.5% of two or more races, 1.0% Asian, 0.8% Native American and 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

. 82.2% were Latino (of any race). As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 679,622 people, 210,022 households, and 166,127 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 224,447 housing units at an average density of . The city was 78.23% Latino of any race. The racial makeup of the county was 73.95%

, 17.91% from other races, 3.06%

, 0.82% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 0.10%

, and 3.19% from two or more races. There were 210,022 households, out of which 44.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.70% were married couples living together, 18.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.90% were non-families. 17.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.18 and the average family size was 3.63. In the county, the population was spread out, with 32.00% under the age of 18, 10.60% from 18 to 24, 29.30% from 25 to 44, 18.40% from 45 to 64, and 9.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 93.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,051, and the median income for a family was $33,410. Males had a median income of $26,882 versus $20,722 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $13,421. About 20.50% of families and 23.80% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 31.50% of those under age 18 and 18.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Most of El Paso County is included in the 16th Congressional District in the U.S. House, represented by Democrat Veronica Escobar. A small eastern portion of the county is in the 23rd Congressional District, represented since 2021 by Republican Tony Gonzales. El Paso County is historically Democratic and the 2008 presidential election was no exception. Democrat Barack Obama won 66% of the vote with 121,589 votes even though he lost the entire state of

by about 946,000 votes. Republican John McCain won 33% of the vote in El Paso County with 61,598 votes. Other candidates won 1% of the vote. In 2004, Democrat John F. Kerry won El Paso County but by a smaller margin than Barack Obama. John Kerry won 56% of the vote, while Republican and former Governor of Texas

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

won 43% of the vote with 73,261 votes. In 2024 Donald Trump got the biggest vote share for a Republican in the county since 2004 with 41.8%, constituting a 20 point shift margin-wise to the right from 2020. This was largely due to increased support for Trump among Latinos, whom he won in Texas with 54%. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is headquartered in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in El Paso County. At one point it was headquartered within the City of El Paso. The Leo Samaniego Law Enforcement Complex is adjacent to the sheriff's office headquarters. Like all Texas counties, El Paso County is governed by a Commissioners Court, which consists of a County Judge, who is elected county-wide, and four County Commissioners, who represent individual precincts. While the County Judge possesses some traditional powers of a judge, the County Judge functions primarily as the chief executive of the county. The County Judge presides over Commissioners Court meetings, casts one vote on Commissioners Court (as do County Commissioners), and lacks veto authority. The El Paso County Judge is Ricardo Samaniego, and the county commissioners are Carlos Leon (Precinct 1), David Stout (Precinct 2), Iliana Holguin (Precinct 3), and Carl L. Robinson(Precinct 4). The commissioners and the county judge are all Democrats. Vogt was appointed County Judge in October 2017 by the County Commissioners, following County Judge Veronica Escobar's resignation to run for Congress. He was previously Escobar's chief of staff. He will serve the remainder of her term, through the end of 2018. Leon and Perez were first elected to their positions in 2012, were re-elected in 2016, and have been in office since 2013. Haggerty and Stout were first elected to their positions in 2014, and have been in office since 2015. The first woman to hold elected office in El Paso County was a teacher, Myra Carroll Winkler, who was elected as superintendent of El Paso County schools in 1912.

United States Congress

Texas Legislature

Texas Senate

Texas House of Representatives

County government

El Paso County elected officials

Communities

Cities

* El Paso * Horizon City * San Elizario * Socorro

Towns

* Anthony * Clint

Village

* Vinton

Census-designated places

* Agua Dulce * Butterfield * Canutillo * Fabens * Homestead Meadows North * Homestead Meadows South *

Morning Glory Morning glory (also written as morning-glory) is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose taxonomy and systematics remain in flux. These species are distributed across numerous genus, gene ...

* Prado Verde * Sparks * Tornillo * Westway

Military base

* Fort Bliss

Unincorporated communities

* Montana Vista * Newman

Economy

As of 2021, El Paso County had a total GDP of around $30 billion and $35,000 per capita.

Education

School districts include: * Anthony Independent School District * Canutillo Independent School District * Clint Independent School District * El Paso Independent School District * Fabens Independent School District * San Elizario Independent School District * Socorro Independent School District * Tornillo Independent School District * Ysleta Independent School District All of the county is in the service area of El Paso Community College.

National Historic Landmark

The Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center was designated It was named a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, on December 11, 2023. The Rio Vista Farm buildings and surrounding fields in Socorro, TX are included in the Historic Landmark district.

References

External links

El Paso County Official web siteEl Paso County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the University of Texas
Historic El Paso County materials
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History.Fort Bliss National Cemetery Disgrace Video
{{Coord, 31.77, -106.24, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 Trans-Pecos 1871 establishments in Texas Majority-minority counties in Texas Hispanic and Latino American culture in Texas