Income is decreasing in Puerto Rico and in 51 of its municipalities.

Announcements
IEPR
29 December 2025

San Juan, PR — The U.S. Census Bureau today released the most recent data from the Puerto Rico Community Survey known as the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS) at the municipal level. These statistics refer to information collected from 2012 to 2016, a period of 5 years or a five-year period. The new publication provides data on social, economic and housing characteristics for Puerto Rico and for all municipalities, as well as for some specific geographical levels such as neighborhoods, census tracts and block groups. As the leading entity of the U.S. Census Bureau's State Data Center Network in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) presents this brief summary of some of the results:

  1. During the 5-year period (2012-16), the median household income in Puerto Rico was $19,606, which decreased by about 4 percent compared to the previous five-year period (2007-11) when the median income was $20,403.
  2. Comparing the two five-year periods (2012-16 vs. 2007-11) at the municipal level:
    • In 51 municipalities, there was a decrease in the median household income, and in 17 of these municipalities the change was statistically significant, with a confidence level of 90%.
    • The 5 municipalities that showed the highest decrease according to the percentage change in household income were: Guayama, Las Marías, Adjuntas, Lajas and Santa Isabel.
    • On the other hand, the 5 municipalities that showed the highest increase in household income were: Salinas, Naranjito, Culebra, Juana Díaz and Morovis.

At the Puerto Rico level, data indicate a reduction of about $800 in household income during the most recent five-year period 2012-16 compared to the previous 2007-2011. Looking at income by category, the proportion of households with incomes under $10,000 increased from 28% to 29% between the two periods, pointing to more households with minimum incomes in Puerto Rico. As for municipalities, 65% of these reflected a decrease in the median household income without showing any particular geographical pattern. On the other hand, seven municipalities showed an increase of 12% or more in household income, located in the center, south and east of Puerto Rico,” said Alberto L. Velázquez-Estrada, manager of statistical projects at the Institute.

More statistics on the Community Survey estimates can be obtained at: http://factfinder2.census.gov/. If you need assistance using this tool to get
data, you may find the self-study guide useful for using this available tool: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/fact-finder . Information on the methodology used to produce the estimates can be accessed here.


In addition, as the leading entity of Puerto Rico's SDC, the IEPR manages the SDC portal, which contains the main statistical reports and publications of the U.S. Census Bureau on Puerto Rico, specifically those that are most in demand, such as annual population estimates; the Puerto Rico Community Survey and official statistics on Puerto Rico's decennial 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
https://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 www.data.pr.gov and to over 40 tables and more than 6 thousand indicators through: www.indicadores.pr.


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

Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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