El Paso’s neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You’ve got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there’s a neighborhood for everyone in El Paso.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in Texas thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in El Paso. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which El Paso neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which El Paso hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 47 of El Paso’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$13,676 median income
$18,594 median income
$14,837 median income
$14,812 median income
$21,864 median income
$70,240 median income
$18,650 median income
$18,520 median income
$21,741 median income
Located in
El Paso County, Texas
San Juan is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas. The population in July 2010 was 33,970 since then the population of San Juan increased since 2000 by +29.5%. It is part of the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Reynosa-McAllen metropolitan areas.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$26,492 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Texas’s statewide median.
Texas statewide median: $300,957
Texas statewide median: $78,476
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous El Paso neighborhoods in 2026
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We plugged the following criteria into Saturday Night Science to get the worst neighborhoods in El Paso:
- High crime (Estimated)
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in El Paso, Texas for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criterion into a “Worst Score.”
The neighborhood with the lowest “Worst Score” ranks as the most dangerous neighborhood of El Paso.
The article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all 47 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in El Paso for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Mesa | 649 | $38,300 | $13,676 |
| 2 | Chihuahuita | 223 | $38,300 | $18,594 |
| 3 | Magoffin | 1,585 | $62,150 | $14,837 |
| 4 | Eagle | 2,760 | $26,300 | $14,812 |
| 5 | A Presidential Neighborhood | 469 | $83,333 | $21,864 |
| 6 | Buena Vista | 32 | $86,300 | $70,240 |
| 7 | Alameda Business | 1,404 | $83,525 | $18,650 |
| 8 | Chamizal | 1,235 | $79,700 | $18,520 |
| 9 | San Juan | 2,285 | $93,360 | $21,741 |
| 10 | Carpenter | 350 | $108,450 | $26,492 |
| 11 | Pasadena | 5,766 | $99,400 | $24,596 |
| 12 | Ysleta Mission Valley | 8,622 | $82,650 | $38,065 |
| 13 | Sunset Heights | 2,231 | $98,300 | $50,568 |
| 14 | Central | 42,696 | $106,767 | $35,355 |
| 15 | El Paso Lower Valley | 4,079 | $66,875 | $22,933 |
| 16 | Houston Park | 1,736 | $103,600 | $26,183 |
| 17 | Thomas Manor | 5,004 | $100,650 | $31,475 |
| 17 | United | 3,129 | $90,700 | $31,264 |
| 19 | Golden Hills | 2,684 | $118,533 | $28,285 |
| 20 | Lakeside | 1,821 | $90,500 | $22,921 |
| 21 | Medina | 1,136 | $102,500 | $48,125 |
| 22 | Stoneridge | 132 | $130,100 | $37,422 |
| 23 | Castner Heights | 1,316 | $150,550 | $62,228 |
| 24 | Northeast | 90,100 | $108,274 | $46,403 |
| 25 | Roberts | 4,157 | $114,667 | $34,604 |
| 26 | Lower Valley | 51,733 | $88,900 | $34,999 |
| 26 | Las Tierras | 26,176 | $152,414 | $62,425 |
| 28 | Five Points | 8,981 | $101,469 | $34,093 |
| 29 | Borderland | 2,005 | $156,450 | $62,442 |
| 30 | Manhattan Heights | 1,992 | $106,829 | $39,072 |
| 31 | Redd-Mulberry | 358 | $184,700 | $74,971 |
| 32 | Friends Of Karl Wyler | 828 | $114,200 | $28,887 |
| 32 | Save The Valley 21 | 19,330 | $86,000 | $32,964 |
| 34 | El Paso High | 3,211 | $116,550 | $32,051 |
| 35 | Mission Hills | 3,772 | $156,367 | $69,018 |
| 36 | Mesa Hills | 9,717 | $151,060 | $39,994 |
| 37 | Mountain Arroyos | 2,407 | $223,525 | $91,986 |
| 37 | East Side | 140,105 | $147,856 | $65,511 |
| 39 | Silver Springs Village | 1,916 | $306,533 | $82,054 |
| 40 | Northwest | 91,023 | $195,429 | $79,050 |
| 41 | Album Park | 13,254 | $135,033 | $54,962 |
| 42 | Coronado | 7,626 | $170,650 | $80,715 |
| 43 | Montoya Heights | 1,589 | $171,900 | $59,056 |
| 44 | North Hills | 13,125 | $185,983 | $88,478 |
| 45 | Las Palmas | 1,628 | $178,200 | $60,295 |
| 46 | Cielo Vista | 21,378 | $152,000 | $51,676 |
| 47 | Rim Area | 1,005 | $286,100 | $91,569 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 47 El Paso neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around El Paso
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in El Paso with South Mesa landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in El Paso are South Mesa, Chihuahuita, Magoffin, Eagle, A Presidential Neighborhood, Buena Vista, Alameda Business, Chamizal, San Juan, and Carpenter.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in El Paso aren’t all bad. Rim Area takes the cake as the best place to live in El Paso.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on Texas? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In El Paso FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in El Paso?
South Mesa ranks as the worst neighborhood in El Paso for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Chihuahuita and Magoffin are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in El Paso?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in El Paso are South Mesa, Chihuahuita, Magoffin, Eagle, A Presidential Neighborhood, Buena Vista, Alameda Business, Chamizal, San Juan, and Carpenter. We scored all 47 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does South Mesa rank as the worst?
South Mesa posts the roughest combined numbers in El Paso: a median household income of $13,676 and a median home value of $38,300, with crime, unemployment, and density folded into the score.
Are these neighborhoods dangerous everywhere?
No. The scores are neighborhood-wide averages, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. Plenty of people live in these neighborhoods without incident; the numbers just say the odds run tougher.
How do you rank the worst neighborhoods?
Each neighborhood is scored on crime, unemployment, income, density, and home values, using Census tract and FBI data. The worst combined score tops the list.
