Low Income Apartments and Affordable Housing For Rent in El Paso, TX

Discover affordable housing in El Paso where there are 180+ housing opportunities based on income and household needs like accessible units for seniors or persons with disabilities. Find and apply to these low income apartments now.

calendar_today Opened: Sep 14
Open Until Further Notice

Reported On March 22nd, 2024 by Lorena Bentley

The Hourly Wage Needed to Afford A Safe, Modest 2 Bed Apartment In El Paso, Texas
$21.78/hour
$14.53 (+200%) more than Texas minimum wage and $14.53 (+200%) more than the Federal minimum wage.
Learn More About El Paso, Texas Affordable Housing ↓

What HUD offices serve El Paso, Texas?

Public Housing Agencies operate federally assisted affordable housing programs at local levels on behalf of HUD. Notably, housing agencies are responsible for managing Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Public Housing, and Project-Based Voucher waiting lists within their jurisdiction.

Operates the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Public Housing, Homeownership Voucher, Family Self-Sufficiency, Section 8 Project-Based Voucher (PBV), Mainstream Voucher, Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) programs for El Paso, Texas.
Operates the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs for El Paso, Texas.
Operates the Public Housing programs for El Paso, Texas.

Go to the Texas Public Housing and Low-Income Apartments Waiting Lists page for openings near El Paso.

How many renters live in El Paso, Texas?

The City of El Paso has 677,469 people living in 246,839 households.

There are 257,070 renters living in 100,961 renter households in this City. Renters make up 37.95 percent of the population living in El Paso.

What is the rental market like in El Paso, Texas?

There are an estimated 266,913 housing units in the El Paso area. Of these, 107,227 units are rental homes, making up 40 percent of the housing market. For every renter household in El Paso, Texas, there are 1 rental units.

What is the vacancy rate for rentals in El Paso?

The rental vacancy rate in El Paso is 5 percent. This is a lower than average vacancy rate. When rental vacancy rates are low there are fewer available units. Rents tend to be higher as more people compete for scarce housing.

How many rental units are in El Paso for each bedroom size?

Occupied Rental Units by Size in El Paso
Studio One-Bedroom Two-Bedroom Three-Bedroom Four+ Bedrooms
5,941 20,542 39,347 26,892 7,671
Occupied Rental Units by Size in El Paso

A large number of apartments in El Paso have two or fewer bedrooms. Seniors and young professionals especially may have more success finding an apartment that meets their needs.

How many renter households in El Paso are overburdened by housing costs?

Among renter households in this market, 53 percent have housing cost burden. Further, 28 percent of households are extremely rent overburdened. When renters pay too much for their housing, it leaves little money for other necessities like food, clothes, or medicine.

The federal government says that renters are cost-burdened if they pay more than a third of their monthly income for rent and utilities.

How Much Is Rent in El Paso

Depending on size, the Fair Market Rent - HUDs measurement of the cost of an average housing unit - ranges from $804 to $1,952. FMRs are updated annually by HUD for every city and county nationwide.

Bed Size 2024 Fair Market Rents
Studio $804
One BR $980
Two BR $1,150
Three BR $1,594
Four BR $1,952
2024 Fair Market Rents in El Paso, Texas

How many units are rented at Fair Market Rent (FMR) in El Paso?

Renters with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher must select a home that is at or below the area’s Fair Market Rent. Markets with a large share of units above FMR tend to have longer search times to find a qualified unit, while those with a large share of units below FMR tend to have more choices and shorter search times. The share below FMR can vary by size of unit, as shown in the table below.

These are the approximate number of units renting below the FMR in this market:

Unit Size Count of Units Below FMR Percentage of Total Units Below FMR
Studio 3,445 58 percent
One BR 14,711 72 percent
Two BR 26,068 66 percent
Rental Units Below FMR in El Paso, Texas

How many affordable rental units are in El Paso?

There are a variety of federal affordable housing programs serving households in El Paso, Texas including the following:

Federal Program Unit Count
Low Income Housing Tax Credit 10,191
Public Housing 148
Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance 6,915
Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly 205
Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities 57
Tracked Units by Federal Program in El Paso, Texas

Rental units may be funded in part by multiple federal programs.

Income Based Apartments in El Paso, Texas

El Paso features 8,833 income based apartments. Tenants of income based apartments typically pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent and utilities.

Low Rent Apartments in El Paso, Texas

There are 5,343 rent subsidized apartments that do not provide direct rental assistance but remain affordable to low income households in El Paso.

Housing Choice Vouchers in El Paso, Texas

On average, Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers pay El Paso landlords $500 per month towards rent. The average voucher holder contributes $300 towards rent in El Paso.

The maximum amount a voucher would pay on behalf of a low-income tenant in El Paso, Texas for a two-bedroom apartment is between $1,035 and $1,265.

Sourced from federal housing data and AffordableHousingOnline.com research.