Skip to content

Monday, Jun. 16, 2025

Fact check: Is Fort Bliss the largest military base in the U.S. based on acreage?

Brandy Ruiz, El Paso Matters
no

White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico is the largest military base in the U.S. based on acreage owned by the U.S. Department of Defense, spanning more than 955,000 acres, according to the department’s 2025 Base Structure Report.

With more than 288,000 acres owned, Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas, ranked as the third-largest military installation and the second-largest Army base in the country, the report shows, citing 2024 data.

Fort Bliss ranks as the second-largest military base if measured by total acres owned, used or leased, with more than 1.3 million acres, according to the report. It ranks behind White Sands and ahead of Yakima Training Center in Washington.

In 2023, Fort Bliss supported about 127,000 jobs and had an economic impact of $27.9 billion, according to the latest Texas Comptroller figures. Joint Base San Antonio’s economic impact was $55.1 billion that year.

Correction (6/17/2025): An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed Fort Bliss’s economic impact and ranking by total acreage.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

El Paso Matters is a member-supported nonpartisan media organization that uses journalism to expand civic capacity in our region. We inform and engage with people in El Paso, Ciudad Juárez and neighboring communities to create solutions-driven conversations about complex issues shaping our region.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.