2.3% more expensive to live in the urban area of San Juan, Bayamón and Caguas

Announcements
IEPR
19 December 2025

San Juan, Puerto Rico — July 10, 2024. The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics released the results of the Cost of Living Index (COLI) for the first quarter of 2024, whose data show that the urban area of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, is ranked 82nd out of 301 urban areas in terms of overall cost of living in the United States, with a composite index of 102.3. The 15 municipalities that make up the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA are: Bayamón, Caguas, Canovanas, Carolina, Cataño, Cidra, Dorado, Gurabo, Guaynabo, Rio Grande, San Juan, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto and Vega Alta.

At the national level, the average cost of living is set at an index of 100. The composite index of 102.3 for the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA indicates that living in this region is 2.3% more expensive than the average of the 301 participating urban areas nationwide.

The composite index is derived from six main categories of consumer spending, of which the following table presents the Rankings for the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA. The combination of higher costs in supermarkets and utilities is partially offset by relatively low costs in health care and miscellaneous goods.

Categoría

Índice

Ranking

Artículos de supermercado

112.8

14/301

Bienes y servicios misceláneos

92.1

251/301

Cuidado de salud

69.5

301/301

Servicios públicos

153.1

4/301

Transportación

89.4

261/301

Vivienda

103.4

80/301

Índice COLI

102.3

82/301

About the Cost of Living Index (COLI):

COLI is a crucial tool for understanding regional differences in the costs of consumer goods and services. The indices are calculated based on data collected quarterly by different entities in each participating urban area. The COLI has been calculated in urban areas of the United States since 1968, using the methodology developed by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), a non-profit organization dedicated to research on community and economic development. The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute, together with the network of members affiliated with C2ER, is responsible for collecting prices for goods and services established by C2ER.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute has designed a comparative calculator for the cost of living between the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA and the rest of the participating cities in the United States. This tool is available at: https://apps.estadisticas.pr/coli/.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

For more information you can visit the website: www.estadisticas.pr or write to preguntas@estadisticas.pr. They can also follow social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), X (@EstadisticasPR), LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) and Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) accounts.

Share this article:

Visit our Official Activities, and participate with us

Visit our Calls for applications and be part of the new opportunities we have for you.

If you have any questions or just want to contact us, visit the Contact Us section.

We are at your disposal. If you need custom statistics, do not hesitate to contact us.

Sign up for our online workshops. Connect with the experts and discover the power of data!

Visit our Blog and keep up to date with the latest news and topics of interest.

Visit our Press Releases and stay connected to the Institute.

Explore the Publication Calendar and keep up to date with Puerto Rico's statistics.

Complete the form for the selection of our Statistics Coordination Committee

Suscribe to receive news directly to your email.

Listen to the Official PRIS podcast and stay informed with the experts

Recruiting for the 2020 Census begins

PRESS RELEASE

RED STATE DATA CENTER OF PUERTO RICO

RECRUITING FOR THE 2020 CENSUS BEGINS

San Juan, PR, February 5, 2019 — The Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico (Institute) announced today that the platform for applying for employment opportunities, related to the next Decennial Census 2020 in Puerto Rico, is now operational. The recruitment carried out by the Federal Census Bureau (U.S. Census Bureau) emerges as part of the planning of the important census operation that is coming. As the leading entity of the Network State Data Center (SDC) of the U.S. Census Bureau in Puerto Rico, the Institute urges all interested persons to complete the employment application. The 2020 Census job application platform is available online at the following email address: https://tinyurl.com/ybsulewp.

To apply for employment with the Census Bureau, applicants must complete three steps: 1) Create an applicant profile, 2) Provide personal information, and 3) Complete an evaluation, depending on employment preference. For general questions about the application process, you can consult the employment applications section at: https://tinyurl.com/yd9hu5vo. If you have questions about the operations of the U.S. Census Bureau in Puerto Rico, you can contact us at: https://estadisticas.pr.gov/contacto.

“Given the complexity of a Decennial Census, activities and projects intensify as we approach the date of the enumeration (April 1, 2020). We are already a little more than a year away from the event, and in this case the application and evaluation phase of candidates for the various positions offered by the Census Bureau begins. Timely recruitment is vital, since the positions involve specialized training that will result in the best possible enumeration of the population,” said Alberto L. Velázquez Estrada, Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute.

For his part, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Acting Executive Director, noted that “The preparation of the Decennial Census is a complex and very precise task, which is carried out in a relatively short time. Fortunately, at the Institute we are coordinating and managing all the work processes that need to be completed before April 1, 2020. All of the Institute's demographic and statistical work, vital for the economic and social development of Puerto Rico, is up to date.”

As the leading entity of the Puerto Rico SDC, the Institute manages the SDC portal, which contains the main statistical reports and publications of the U.S. Census Bureau about Puerto Rico, specifically those that are most in demand. These publications include: Annual population estimates, the Puerto Rico Community Survey (Puerto Rico Community Survey), and official statistics on Puerto Rico's 10-year population and housing censuses, among others. The Puerto Rico SDC portal can be accessed through: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access. The Institute has in its inventory, accessible through www.estadisticas.pr.gov, over 300 statistical products. In addition, it is a custodian and provides access to over 100 data sets or “data sets” through https://data.pr.gov/ and to over 40 tables and more than 6,000 indicators through: www.indicadores.pr.

For more information you can visit our website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. In addition, you can follow us on cyber social networks through Facebook (estadisticas.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

Federal Census consults community survey users

Federal Census consults community survey users

The value of investment in Research and Development in Puerto Rico increases

The value of investment in Research and Development in Puerto Rico increases