Market report · El Paso, TX
The State of Outbound Sales in El Paso, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the El Paso, TX metro right now: who the buyers are, which trades have room, what is being built, what a rep costs to hire here. Then a 4-tool kit to work the market this month.
- 1,741business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #78 of our 100 metros
- 11buyer sites per commercial landscaping contractor, #2 of 100 markets: the best rank of any trade here
Sites: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; rank among the 100 metros on our market pages. Room: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 sites per contractor in U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1, among markets with at least 10 contractors.
Executive summary Read this if nothing else
5 things to know about outbound sales in El Paso
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 628 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in El Paso, ahead of retail stores (363).
Where the metro leans
Warehousing and distribution: 2.66x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: trucking companies (2.55x) and auto dealerships (2.21x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Commercial Landscaping: #2 of 100 markets
11 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 93 local commercial landscaping contractors. The most crowded is commercial HVAC & mechanical, #84 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
Meta El Paso data center, $10 billion
Under construction. One of 7 named, sourced projects in this report.
Hiring locally
$124,700 for an in-house SDR's first year (illustrative)
At a $55,000 base salary, once commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and training, turnover and manager time are added, before ramp time.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1; project sources as of 2026-09; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Full list at the end.
Chapter 01 The market
Who buys in El Paso
1,741 business sites in El Paso have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #78 of the 100 metros we publish. Here is what those buyers are and where they sit.
The largest buyer categories
Sites with 20 or more people are the ones worth an SDR's time: big enough to have a facility lead, a service budget and a contract that comes up for renewal. The "vs. U.S. mix" column compares each category's share of local employment with its national share (1.00x is the U.S. average).
| Category | Sites with 20+ | All sites | vs. U.S. mix | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RestaurantsLargest pool | 628 | 1,817 | 1.67x | -5 |
| Retail stores | 363 | 2,235 | 1.47x | -46 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 245 | 1,585 | 1.49x | +55 |
| Manufacturing plants | 119 | 521 | 1.22x | +5 |
| Wholesale distributors | 119 | 1,046 | 1.28x | -35 |
| Trucking companies | 82 | 711 | 2.55x | -28 |
| Grocery stores | 52 | 207 | 0.89x | +7 |
| Senior living and nursing | 40 | 85 | 0.54x | -4 |
| Auto dealerships | 37 | 153 | 2.21x | -3 |
| Hotels | 36 | 90 | 1.25x | +4 |
El Paso leans toward warehousing and distribution (2.66x), trucking companies (2.55x) and auto dealerships (2.21x). A trade that already sells to those buyers elsewhere has a deeper pool here than the national numbers suggest, and a case study from one of them travels well on the phone.
It is thinner than the U.S. mix in churches and religious organizations (0.14x) and senior living and nursing (0.54x). A program built around those buyers runs out of fresh accounts sooner here.
Growing fastest over the past year, by establishment count: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+55), grocery stores (+7) and manufacturing plants (+5). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
El Paso, TX: 1 county in this report's counts.
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in El Paso
Buyer sites per contractor is a rough read on how crowded a trade is: more sites for each local competitor means more doors nobody else is knocking on. Each trade's El Paso figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial LandscapingMost room | #2 of 100 | 11 | 93 | +3 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #5 of 100 | 6.2 | 100 | -1 |
| Managed Service Providers | #11 of 100 | 5.6 | 138 | -2 |
| Paving & Asphalt | #34 of 94 | 47 | 23 | 0 |
| Commercial Roofing | #49 of 89 | 64 | 14 | +1 |
| Commercial Electrical | #58 of 100 | 9.9 | 70 | 0 |
| Commercial Construction | #75 of 100 | 3.3 | 125 | -5 |
| Fire Protection | #78 of 96 | 31 | 36 | +1 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #84 of 100 | 7.1 | 77 | +1 |
Commercial landscaping (#2), commercial cleaning & janitorial (#5) and managed service providers (#11) rank best in El Paso. For those trades a program can work longer before it calls the same building twice, and fewer competitors have already pitched each owner.
Commercial HVAC & mechanical is the most crowded trade here, #84 of 100: 7.1 buyer sites for each of 77 local mechanical contractors. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Commercial construction (-5) and managed service providers (-2) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Commercial landscaping (+3) and commercial painting & coatings (+2) added them.
Not ranked here: commercial flooring (6 contractors) and commercial painting & coatings (8 contractors). With fewer than 10 local contractors the ratio is noise, though a thin field is itself a sign of open ground.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover El Paso yet. We take one client per trade per territory, so ask before you plan around it.
Chapter 03 The projects
What is being built, and who owns the buildings
7 named, sourced projects and 6 anchor owners in El Paso. Each one is a reason to call that has nothing to do with your company and everything to do with the buyer's building.
The projects
- 01 · $10 billion Meta El Paso data center Under construction A Meta data center campus in Northeast El Paso between Stan Roberts Sr. Avenue and State Line Road, expanded from $1.5 billion to $10 billion, with El Paso Electric planning a 366-megawatt gas generation plant to serve it. Over 4,000 construction workers are on the job, with electrical and mechanical cooling as the largest scopes, and a campus this size needs fire protection, paving and long-term facility service contracts. El Paso Matters, 2026-03-29
- 02 · $30 million Advanced manufacturing facility near El Paso International Airport Under construction A multi-tenant advanced manufacturing building with office space at George Perry Boulevard and Global Reach Drive, next to the Marshalls Distribution Center, aimed at aerospace and defense suppliers and expected to take about a year to build. A one-year schedule puts mechanical, electrical and roofing work in late 2026 and early 2027, and each small manufacturing tenant will need its own fit-out work. KVIA, 2026-05-06
- 03 · $18.2 million Montwood Drive Extension Broke ground September 2026 A 1.4-mile extension of Montwood Drive from Shreya Street to Rich Beem Boulevard in East El Paso, with storm sewer, street lights and landscaping, funded by the 2022 Community Progress Bond and due in spring 2028. New roadway means paving, street lighting and landscaping scopes through 2028, and it opens access to land in one of the city's fastest-growing districts. KVIA, 2026-09-23
- 04 · More than $620 million El Paso VA Health Care Center at Fort Bliss Under construction, completion scheduled February 2028 A 492,000 sq ft Veterans Affairs medical center under construction on Fort Bliss that will provide outpatient, mental health, primary care, ambulatory and ancillary services for 54,000 veterans in the El Paso area. A medical building this size moves into interior trades through 2027: life-safety sprinkler and alarm systems, resilient and sheet flooring, painting and wall protection, then a terminal clean and environmental services work ahead of opening. El Paso Inc., 2026-02-16
- 05 · $340 million Fox Cancer Center Construction started September 2025, about three years to build Texas Tech Health El Paso's 350,000 sq ft comprehensive cancer center, built in conjunction with a new Clinical Sciences Building in El Paso. A clinical building of 350,000 sq ft carries roofing, fire sprinkler and alarm, healthcare flooring and painting scopes as it closes in and finishes out, and a cancer center needs hospital-grade cleaning once patients arrive. El Paso Inc., 2025-09-17
- 06 · $102 million UTEP Miner Crossing residence hall Broke ground May 2026, open for fall 2028 A five-story, 155,500 sq ft residence hall at the University of Texas at El Paso with about 507 beds, a 22,000 sq ft dining hall and a fitness center, built by Sundt Construction. Over the two-year build the work runs from structure and roofing to room-by-room flooring and painting, and a 507-bed dorm with a dining hall serving more than 1,400 meals a day needs a final construction clean and ongoing cleaning support. The University of Texas at El Paso, 2026-05-28
- 07 · $106.8 million New Canutillo Middle School Under construction, completion expected late 2027 A relocated 165,000 sq ft Canutillo Middle School, a Canutillo ISD bond project sited to serve growing neighborhoods along the Artcraft corridor in El Paso County. A new 165,000 sq ft school means roofing, fire sprinkler and alarm, classroom and gym flooring and painting packages through its late 2027 completion. KVIA, 2025-11-15
Projects current as of 2026-09; each source is linked on its card. Values are as reported by the source.
The anchor owners
Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings in El Paso. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · El Paso, El Paso County
University Medical Center of El Paso
UMC reports 394 licensed beds in FY 2024.
The region's only Level 1 trauma center and the teaching hospital for Texas Tech's Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, with a main hospital and outpatient clinics.
University Medical Center of El PasoCampus · El Paso, El Paso County
The University of Texas at El Paso
UTEP's fall 2026 enrollment stands at 27,368, an all-time record.
A growing campus of classrooms, labs, residence halls and athletic venues serving record enrollment.
The University of Texas at El PasoAirport · El Paso, El Paso County
El Paso International Airport
ELP handled 3,838,968 total passengers in 2025.
A city-owned airport with terminal, parking, air cargo and on-airport industrial and Foreign Trade Zone 68 property.
El Paso International AirportPublic owner · El Paso, El Paso County
Fort Bliss
Wikipedia, citing Fort Bliss garrison, gives the garrison's land area as 1.12 million acres.
An Army post headquartered in El Paso with barracks, motor pools, family housing and training facilities.
WikipediaLogistics hub · El Paso, El Paso County
City of El Paso International Bridges
The City of El Paso International Bridges Department manages three ports of entry: Paso Del Norte, Stanton and Ysleta-Zaragoza.
The city owns the U.S. side of these crossings, which run 24 hours a day; Ysleta-Zaragoza includes FAST lanes for commercial traffic.
City of El PasoMajor employer · El Paso, El Paso County
The Hospitals of Providence
Wikipedia, citing the El Paso Inc. 2021 Book of Lists, ranks The Hospitals of Providence among El Paso's largest employers with 5,300 employees.
A private multi-hospital system with campuses and outpatient buildings across El Paso.
WikipediaAnchor facts checked 2026-10; each source is linked on its card.
Which trades the work touches
| Trade | Projects and owners |
|---|---|
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 9 |
| Commercial Roofing | 7 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 7 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 6 |
| Fire Protection | 6 |
| Commercial Electrical | 5 |
| Commercial Construction | 5 |
| Commercial Flooring | 5 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 4 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 2 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The El Paso selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the El Paso metro's counties, month by month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail and damaging wind reportstotal, 2015 to 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 9 | 59 | 214 | 457 | 499 | 451 | 267 | 52 | 2 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 648 | 453 | 294 | 116 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 87 | 388 | 654 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 59 | 64 | 72 | 79 | 88 | 96 | 94 | 93 | 87 | 79 | 67 | 58 |
NOAA logged 49 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 37 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #54 of 100 markets for hail and #82 for wind. June, July and August carried 63% of the reports. Storms are not the main driver here, so roof age, leaks and budget timing carry the roofing conversation.
The metro averages 2,010 cooling degree days a year (#21 of 97 markets) and 2,654 heating degree days (#73 of 97). Cooling load peaks in June, July, August and September; heating in January, February, November and December. Peak months are when HVAC calls lead with service and response times; the rest of the year they lead with planned work and budgets.
10 months average a high of 60°F or more (February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November). That is when exterior painting, paving and landscaping crews are busiest, so in-season calls catch owners while they can see the work that needs doing. The contracts themselves are bid on each property's own dates, so the selling runs all year.
Trades with no weather season
Cleaning, construction, electrical, flooring and fire protection sell on contract end dates, budgets and inspection cycles. Learn each account's date on the first call and come back before it.
HVAC outbound runs every month of the year, and the season changes the message, not the effort. In peak months calls lead with service: which units struggled, how fast the current contractor responded, and when the agreement renews. The rest of the year they lead with planned work, budgets and equipment past mid-life.
Chapter 05 The numbers
What one meeting takes, trade by trade
What booking a meeting has taken on our own calling floor for the trades we run in El Paso, next to the records we can prospect here. The sales center figures are national; it does not break them out by city yet.
| Trade | Dials per appointment | Reached proposal | Proposals won | Dials for 10 meetings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire ProtectionFastest to book | 78 | 21.6% | 13.2% | about 780 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 86 | 32.2% | 7.4% | about 860 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 88 | 18.8% | 12.7% | about 880 |
| Commercial Electrical | 96 | 14.6% | 21.1% | about 960 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 98 | 16.6% | 24.9% | about 980 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 115 | 31.2% | 14.4% | about 1,150 |
| Commercial Flooring | 122 | 30.8% | 9.8% | about 1,220 |
| Commercial Roofing | 140 | 25.9% | 16.1% | about 1,400 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 142 | 23.9% | 21.7% | about 1,420 |
| Managed Service Providers | 162 | 10.0% | 20.5% | about 1,620 |
All of these trades together: 122 dials per appointment
The records behind a El Paso program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the El Paso-Las Cruces territory.
- 1,846Commercial Roofing
- 1,846Commercial Construction
- 727Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 543Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial
Source: Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: estimated decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each program in the territory. Shown for the programs the count covers.
Read it this way
Divide the records by the dials one meeting takes and you see how long a list lasts before it repeats. A thin list means a program has to work every record well, not just call more.
Chapter 06 Build or buy
What an in-house SDR costs in El Paso
Before you hire a sales development rep in El Paso, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 3,830 people hold the role in the El Paso, TX metro, and every one of their employers is competing for the same hires.
| Cost | Year one |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $55,000 |
| Commission and bonus | $15,000 |
| Payroll taxes and benefits (25% of pay) | $17,500 |
| Tools and data ($550 a month) | $6,600 |
| Recruiting and training | $7,000 |
| Turnover (35% a year, rehiring) | $2,450 |
| Manager and QA time (5 hours a week) and admin (4 hours a month) | $21,150 |
| Total, before ramp time | $124,700 |
Headcount: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091). The cost lines are the starting values of our SDR cost calculator: $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $550 a month in tools, $7,000 recruiting and training, 35% yearly turnover, and manager, QA and admin time. Change any of them there.
$124,700
for one in-house SDR's first year at a $55,000 base salary.
That buys one rep. It does not buy the list, the manager's coaching system or cover when the rep leaves.
Part two Apply this
The El Paso market toolkit
4 working tools built from the chapters above. Tick the boxes as you go (they stay ticked in this browser), copy the scripts into your CRM, or save the whole guide as a PDF and print this part as a worksheet.
Tool 01
Account scorecard
Before an account goes on the call list, check every line that fits. Call the accounts with the most ticks first, and leave the ones with none for later.
Tool 02
Discovery question bank
Ask fewer, better questions. Pick three or four for the call and save the rest for the meeting. Each one comes with the reason it earns its place.
Restaurants: 628 sites here
From our fire protection talk track. Staying open and passing inspection. Multi-unit operators are worth more than single locations.
- When was your hood suppression system last inspected, and when is the next one due?Due dates tell you when to call and what to offer.
- Have you had a failed inspection or a citation recently?Failed inspections threaten the ability to stay open and create urgency.
- How many locations do you operate, and does each one use a different vendor?Multi-unit operators are more valuable and often want one vendor across locations.
Retail stores: 363 sites here
From our landscaping talk track. Store appearance and snow safety. In shopping centers the landlord usually controls the contract, so qualify who buys.
- Is this a freestanding store, or does the shopping center landlord handle the grounds?In centers the landlord usually buys, so this qualifies whether you are talking to the right company.
- Is grounds and snow bought store by store or through a regional or national program?Regional programs need a different conversation and a different contact than a single store.
- How is snow and ice handled before the store opens?Opening-time snow coverage is a safety and liability issue that gets attention fast.
Medical, dental and outpatient offices: 245 sites here
From our landscaping talk track. Patient access and safety. Many practices lease, so the landlord or property manager is often the buyer.
- Do you own the building, or does a landlord or property manager handle the grounds?Many practices lease, so this tells you whether to keep selling here or move to the landlord.
- How are walkways and parking handled when it snows or ices over?Patient access and slip risk are the strongest reasons a practice will act.
- Have patients complained about the entrance, parking or grounds?Complaints give the practice administrator a reason to push for a change.
Any first meeting
Plain practice that works in every market.
- How are you handling this today, and what would you change about it?The gap between today and what they want is the whole reason to meet.
- What happens if nothing changes this year?Tells you whether there is a cost to waiting, or only curiosity.
- Who else would need to agree before anything moves?Names the people who can stall the deal, while you can still invite them.
- When does the current contract or budget come up for review?Gives you the date to plan around, even when the answer today is no.
- What would make a first meeting worth your time?Lets the buyer set the agenda, which is the agenda they will show up for.
Tool 03
Trigger watchlist
Each of these changes gives a buyer a reason to take the call this month instead of next year. Tick the ones you will track, and set a news alert or CRM field for each so you hear about it first.
Tool 04
30-day action plan
4 weeks, 15 steps, nothing you need to buy. Tick each one off as you finish it; your progress stays in this browser.
Week 1Draw the territory
Week 2Check the rules, then write the talk track
Week 3Make the calls
Week 4Measure and decide
Sources and notes
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023: business sites by category, size and county, El Paso, TX.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1: contractor establishments, one-year change and concentration (location quotient).
- Projects: named public sources linked on each card, current as of 2026-09.
- Anchor owners: sources linked on each card, checked 2026-10.
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2015 to 2024: hail and damaging wind reports by month across the metro's counties.
- NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county monthly series, 1991-2020 averages: degree days and average highs by month.
- Abstrakt sales center, Performance Intelligence, national, as of October 2026: dials, appointments, proposals and wins by trade. Method.
- Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: decision-maker records per program in the El Paso-Las Cruces territory.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025: Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).
- The toolkit's discovery questions come from our trade talk tracks; the plan and checklists are sales practice, not data.
