I am interested to see how salaries in El Paso match up with the rest of Texas, especailly the bigger cities, both generally as with respect to attorneys specifically.

Any help?

It shouldn't matter. No amount of money could make living in El Paso worthwhile.

TAF

I don't have any hard facts for you but from being born and spending the first 18 years of my life there I will say this...

You will not be paid anywhere near what you would at a similar firm or company in Houston or Dallas. I had a friend who graduated from A&M with an MBA and thought about coming back to El Paso to work (they had strong family ties in the area). Even though he held several offers from some key companies here, all were anywhere from 10 to 20% lower then what he was being offered in Houston/Dallas ect.

With that in mind, El Paso is also a very very cheap city to live in, save property taxes - I don't think anywhere else in Texas do homeowners pay the % that pay here in EL Paso and that is basically to make up for the lack of funds they get from the fact that 80% of the population is lower class.

Regardless of the money - I'd never move back there. I had a job offer from a small company to fly frieght for them and even though it would have been a big step up from my current flying job I dislike that town so much that no money would really be worth it to me.

Just my 2 cents

Dworak,

That sounds a lot like me. I grew up there till I was 19 and then moved. I've gone back maybe 5 times in the last 12 years.

Where did you graduate from? I graduated from Coronado HS in 1991.

TAF

Anything you do with the exception of owning your own practice as a professional will not pay as well as the aforementioned cities. Keep in mind the cost of living is cheaper...it's a give and take.

Going back to El Paso after graduating would have landed me a job paying 55-60% of what I earn in DFW. There is very little industry in EP, and limited room for career advancement. I don't think there is any compelling reason to move there unless it is a definitive short term assignment and you are being paid a lot of money. Lets take EDS for example. A guy I know gets paid $32,000 as a .NET developer in El Paso. He would probably earn at least $50k elsewhere in the state.

The housing is cheap, but the cost of insurance, power, water, and property taxes are extremely high. The quality of life issue is also very dramatic. There aren't really any young professionals, or professional period people.

If you lived in the upper valley and never left the west side it wouldn't be an awful place in the short term.