40% higher the price of eggs in the urban area of San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas

Similarly, grocery items are 11.4% more expensive in this area than the average among 295 participating urban areas in the United States

San Juan, Puerto Rico — November 22, 2024. The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute released the results of the Cost of Living Index (COLI) for the third quarter of 2024, corresponding to the months of July, August and September. The data reveals that the urban area of the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas is ranked number 18 in the supermarket category. In percentage terms, the supermarket items in the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA are 11.4% more expensive than the average among 295 participating urban areas in the United States.

Within the category of supermarket items, the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA is positioned as the most expensive urban area in the United States for the cost of eggs, ranking first in the ranking. This means that this product is 40% higher than the average in urban areas of the United States. On the other hand, in the health care category, the visit to the general practitioner is in position number 295, while dental cleaning is in position 293, positioning the urban area as one of the most affordable among the participants in the country for these services.

In terms of the overall Cost of Living, the urban area of Metropolitan Statistical Area San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas is ranked 80th out of 295 in the United States, with a composite index of 102.3. This indicates that the cost of living in this area is 2.3% higher than the average of participating urban areas in the United States.

Below are the indexes and rankings by category for the urban area of the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA:

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The composite index is derived from six main categories of consumer spending, with high costs in public services and supermarket items highlighted. These are partially offset by relatively low costs in health care and miscellaneous goods and services.

The 15 municipalities that make up the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA and that meet the characteristics for price collection according to the established methodology are: Bayamón, Caguas, Canóvanas, Carolina, Cataño, Cidra, Dorado, Gurabo, Guaynabo, Rio Grande, San Juan, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto and Vega Alta.

“The COLI results for the third quarter of 2024 show that in the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas MSA, public services, grocery items and housing are, on average, much more expensive than in most participating MSAs in the rest of the United States. The COLI, carried out by the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute, is an essential tool for evidence-based decision-making related to the development and economic growth of Puerto Rico,” explained Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Executive Director of the Institute.

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 in each participating urban area. Since 1968, the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) has developed this widely recognized methodology.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute also offers a comparative cost-of-living calculator 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.

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Federal Census consults community survey users

PRESS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

PUERTO RICO STATISTICS INSTITUTE AND FEDERAL ENTITY SHARE IDEAS TO IMPROVE THE COACH TRAINING PROJECT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 8, 2019 — Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Acting Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (Institute) participated in the first meetings this year of the Board of Directors of the Regional Educational Laboratory of the North East & Islands (REL‐NEI), an entity subsidized by the Federal Department of Education. Disdier, who has been a member of the Board of Directors of that organization for some years, reported that during the day, initiatives of great importance for the island were discussed, including Puerto Rico Data Coaches Training, an innovative project that is forming Coaches, within the Department of Education.

“This project is of great importance to the Department of Education because it is through these Coaches, barriers are being identified that may be impeding the development of a culture based on data and removing such barriers. During the meetings with REL‐NEI, we discussed options to continue improving this project,” Disdier explained.

The REL‐NEI's main objective is to carry out scientific research and training aimed at supporting education systems based on empirical evidence. The REL‐NEI translates this empirical evidence into public policy proposals and best practices in teaching and learning processes. REL‐NEI is one of 10 Regional Laboratories and is comprised of Puerto Rico, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Vermont.

Other topics that were addressed and discussed at the meetings were the development of the workforce at the preschool level, learning the English language, effective alternatives to traditional graduation processes, reducing chronic absenteeism, and geospatial analysis to understand barriers to teacher recruitment.

“The mission of the institute is not only to coordinate the production service of the statistics produced in Puerto Rico, but also to promote research capacity and unite academics, researchers and public officials to objectively support government management, in this case, the management of Puerto Rico's public education system. As the official institution in Puerto Rico for the promotion of a data culture, at the Institute we are available to provide our full support to these data coaches from the Department of Education,” explained Dr. Disdier.

Although researchers and academics from the Laboratory for Educational Research and Development (WestEd) and the Education Development Center (EDC) direct most of the research and projects, they work as a team and in collaboration with the governments of all the jurisdictions that make up the REL‐NEI. The Puerto Rico Department of Education and the Institute are an integral part of these efforts. During this and the coming years, the results of these investigations will be announced.

For more information about the REL‐NEI you can visit the following address: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/northeast/. For their part, they can access data and information at the Institute of Statistics through https://estadisticas.pr.gov/.

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Contact: Idia Martínez
Mobile phone: 787-603-3200
Email: imartinez@upfrontpr.net

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