Albuquerque vs El Paso - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Albuquerque	El Paso
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2026	$1828
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5037	$4149
🏠 One person rent	$1168	$1019
🏘️ Family rent	$2063	$1739
🍽️ Food expenses	$606	$595
🚐 Transport expenses	$95.4	$92.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3847	$3236
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	27	34
😀 Quality of life	83	85
🏙️ Population	565K	679K

The cost of living in Albuquerque is 11% more expensive than in El Paso. Cities ranked 1965th and 2753rd ($2026 vs $1828) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1541st and 1911th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Albuquerque compared to 1.8 months in El Paso. Ranked 185th vs 154th best cities to live in the United States, and 561st vs 472nd among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/albuquerque/el-paso.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Albuquerque vs El Paso infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/albuquerque/el-paso" target="_blank">Albuquerque vs El Paso - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Albuquerque vs El Paso

Prices for goods and services in Albuquerque and El Paso are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Albuquerque	El Paso
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19	$22
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.4	$70.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$12.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.02	$6.03
☕ Cappuccino	$5.25	$6.59
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.76	$2.29
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1143	$1025
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$961	$817
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2114	$1758
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1766	$1466
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$102	$97.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$159	$152
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$68.8	$62.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.31%	6.36%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2420	$1787
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2241	$1767
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.94	$1.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$30.8	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.3	$12.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$0.74
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.96	$0.89
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.13	$2.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.94	$2.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.43	$3.86
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$11.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$10.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.2	$12.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$3.59
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.96	$3.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$4.17
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.65	$2.69
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.78	$1.18
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.66	$2.36
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.1	$8.18
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.17	$2.05
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.5	$10.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.32	$8.06
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.24	$6.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.98	$5.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.87	$1.97
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.3	$21.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.7	$11.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$123	$63.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.3	$18.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$50.8	$45
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.2	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1491	$571
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24972	$6914

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Albuquerque

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.5 mi	Rio Rancho	$2040
85 km or 53 mi	Santa Fe	$2216
110 km or 69 mi	Espanola	$2220
170 km or 106 mi	Taos	$2418
197 km or 123 mi	Gallup	$2190
230 km or 143 mi	Farmington	$2472
254 km or 158 mi	Alamogordo	$1734
272 km or 169 mi	Roswell	$1928
311 km or 193 mi	Las Cruces	$1641
321 km or 200 mi	Clovis	$1724
373 km or 232 mi	Carlsbad	$1855
374 km or 232 mi	El Paso	$1828
376 km or 233 mi	Ciudad Juarez	$1002
388 km or 241 mi	Socorro	$1876
393 km or 244 mi	Pueblo	$2140
418 km or 259 mi	Hobbs	$1924
433 km or 269 mi	Fountain	$2323
434 km or 270 mi	Amarillo	$1817
437 km or 272 mi	Security-Widefield	$2357
447 km or 278 mi	Colorado Springs	$2451
456 km or 283 mi	Flagstaff	$2589
460 km or 286 mi	Plainview	$2023
467 km or 290 mi	Lubbock	$1934
472 km or 293 mi	Grand Junction	$2168
491 km or 305 mi	Apache Junction	$2490
496 km or 308 mi	Florence	$2444
498 km or 310 mi	Castle Rock	$2510
498 km or 310 mi	Fountain Hills	$2384
502 km or 312 mi	Agua Prieta	$863
502 km or 312 mi	Oro Valley	$2050
505 km or 314 mi	Queen Creek	$3022
510 km or 317 mi	Casas Adobes	$2005
512 km or 318 mi	Tucson	$1930
513 km or 319 mi	Highlands Ranch	$2600
514 km or 320 mi	Gilbert	$2381
515 km or 320 mi	Mesa	$2298
516 km or 320 mi	Marana	$2089
516 km or 321 mi	Parker	$2524
520 km or 323 mi	Littleton	$2286
520 km or 323 mi	Scottsdale	$2471

Cities near El Paso

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.2 km or 1.4 mi	Ciudad Juarez	$1002
24 km or 15 mi	Socorro	$1876
68 km or 42 mi	Las Cruces	$1641
136 km or 85 mi	Alamogordo	$1734
202 km or 125 mi	Nuevo Casas Grandes	$896
224 km or 139 mi	Carlsbad	$1855
258 km or 160 mi	Roswell	$1928
294 km or 183 mi	Agua Prieta	$863
332 km or 206 mi	Hobbs	$1924
349 km or 217 mi	Chihuahua	$1008
359 km or 223 mi	Sierra Vista	$1638
374 km or 232 mi	Albuquerque	$2026
375 km or 233 mi	Ciudad Cuauhtemoc	$1055
387 km or 240 mi	Rio Rancho	$2040
390 km or 242 mi	Odessa	$2231
408 km or 254 mi	Delicias	$953
415 km or 258 mi	Midland	$2045
422 km or 262 mi	Tucson	$1930
424 km or 264 mi	Nogales	$2110
425 km or 264 mi	Sahuarita	$2059
425 km or 264 mi	Clovis	$1724
425 km or 264 mi	Nogales	$776
429 km or 267 mi	Oro Valley	$2050
431 km or 268 mi	Casas Adobes	$2005
437 km or 272 mi	Santa Fe	$2216
442 km or 275 mi	Marana	$2089
467 km or 290 mi	Gallup	$2190
473 km or 294 mi	Espanola	$2220
476 km or 296 mi	Lubbock	$1934
476 km or 296 mi	Big Spring	$2140
481 km or 299 mi	Florence	$2444
508 km or 316 mi	Apache Junction	$2490
509 km or 317 mi	Casa Grande	$2366
511 km or 317 mi	Queen Creek	$3022
521 km or 323 mi	Plainview	$2023
522 km or 324 mi	Hermosillo	$1087
522 km or 324 mi	Taos	$2418
527 km or 328 mi	Gilbert	$2381
530 km or 330 mi	Chandler	$2396
532 km or 330 mi	Fountain Hills	$2384