From ElPasoMatters.org:
The population in El Paso’s city limits grew by 150 people between 2023 and 2024, continuing a decade-long plateauing of people, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
. . .
El Paso’s population made it the nation’s 23rd largest city in 2024, down one spot from 2023. Washington, D.C., added almost 15,000 people since 2023 to move past El Paso.
Wow, 23rd largest city in the country. That’s pretty good, right?
Sometimes the people who want to foist some boondoggle on the taxpayers tell us, “We’re the 22nd (now 23rd) biggest city in the U.S. We deserve a (ballpark, or deck park, or monorail).”
But consider. The city of El Paso is larger in population than Washington, D.C.; Boston; or Las Vegas. The city of El Paso is bigger than Denver. El Paso has more people than Miami. But all of those cities are surrounded by burgeoning metroplexes. Their Metropolitan Statistical Areas are all lots bigger than El Paso.
El Paso has, what, San Elizario? Canutillo?
Even if you were to include Las Cruces (a dubious proposition at best), there are lots of metroplexes bigger than our Mexoplex.
And if you consider our purchasing power, El Paso is down there near the bottom.
So I’m a little leery when a journalist trots out that old factoid that El Paso is one of the biggest cities in the U.S. When I hear that, I put my hand on my wallet.
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