Puerto Rico Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Puerto Rico, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Puerto Rico. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Puerto Rico. The estimated population of Puerto Rico is 3,311,274 people, with a median age of 43.1.

We can look at the total population in Puerto Rico over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
3,311,274
+1.71%
-4.55%
2020
3,255,642
 -1.89% -
2019
3,318,447
 -2.02% -
2018
3,386,941
 -2.36% -
2017
3,468,963
 - -

Population of Puerto Rico by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
0.9%
0.8%
 +12.50%
Black/African American
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Native
0%
0%
 0.00%
Hispanic
98.8%
99%
 -0.20%
Asian
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Other
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Puerto Rico by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 43.1 +1.65% 41.2 +1.48% 44.8 +1.59%
2020 42.4 +1.68% 40.6 +2.01% 44.1 +1.61%
2019 41.7 +1.96% 39.8 +2.05% 43.4 +1.88%
2018 40.9 +2% 39 +2.36% 42.6 +1.91%
2017 40.1 - 38.1 - 41.8 -

The median age of Puerto Rico gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 188,372 -26.12% 178,156 -24.73% 143,724 137,955
10 to 19 237,036 -13.68% 225,830 -13.19% 206,062 197,388
20 to 29 236,023 -3.97% 236,937 -5.38% 226,694 224,347
30 to 39 203,527 -9.23% 224,797 -9.92% 185,185 203,128
40 to 49 211,475 -5.55% 233,509 -5.36% 199,842 221,112
50 to 59 207,855 -1.51% 241,617 -2.02% 204,690 236,670
60 to 69 186,098 +2.49% 225,873 +0.4% 190,638 226,673
70+ 183,611 +16.14% 248,247 +16.67% 215,026 292,140

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Puerto Rico is $21,967.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Puerto Rico.

  • Under 25
    $7,826.00
  • 25 to 44
    $24,445.00
  • 45 to 64
    $26,052.00
  • 65 and over
    $18,687.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Puerto Rico, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Puerto Rico, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Puerto Rico is currently $34,931.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

1.13% of households in Puerto Rico are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Puerto Rico against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    54.71%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    24.69%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    10.67%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    4.60%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    3.23%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    0.97%
  • $200,000 or more
    1.13%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Puerto Rico is $14,047.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Puerto Rico by the total population of Puerto Rico.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Puerto Rico, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Puerto Rico to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    10.20%
  • Bachelor's degree
    36.97%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    2.65%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    48.65%
  • Less than high school diploma
    1.53%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Puerto Rico that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Puerto Rico over the age of 16 is 2,797,936.

Of those people, a total of 44.30% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Puerto Rico is 37.70%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 171,791 14.00% 47.00%
20 to 24 years 227,033 51.90% 30.60%
25 to 29 years 224,008 71.80% 19.10%
30 to 34 years 195,204 74.20% 14.30%
35 to 44 years 403,558 74.10% 12.20%
45 to 54 years 430,651 63.90% 10.10%
55 to 59 years 221,214 47.00% 9.80%
60 to 64 years 220,552 29.10% 7.40%
65 to 74 years 378,237 10.60% 5.60%
75 years and over 325,688 2.70% 3.80%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Puerto Rico. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 1,428,126 43.20% 13.50%
Black or African American 282,743 45.90% 15.50%
American Indian and Alaska Native 4,713 44.00% 19.30%
Asian 5,215 54.00% 9.40%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 197 52.30% 42.70%
Other 596,991 46.10% 17.90%
Two or more races 479,951 44.30% 12.90%
Hispanic or Latino 2,763,641 44.20% 14.60%
Not Hispanic or Latino 23,664 49.30% 10.80%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Puerto Rico as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Puerto Rico is 1,055,843, with median earnings of $19,071.00.

Women in Puerto Rico earning approximately 100.10% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 1,055,843 $19,071.00
Male 550,695 $19,058.00
Female 505,148 $19,085.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 71,280 $37,101.00
Business and Financial 52,922 $33,106.00
Computer and Mathematical 13,242 $38,206.00
Architecture and Engineering 14,851 $45,087.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 8,370 $38,092.00
Community and Social Service 16,245 $25,054.00
Legal 10,462 $51,020.00
Educational and Library 70,842 $24,583.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 12,160 $21,600.00
Healthcare Practitioners 72,095 $27,644.00
Healthcare Support 24,029 $11,721.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 32,668 $15,869.00
Law Enforcement 21,189 $32,991.00
Food Preparation and Serving 59,724 $10,928.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 57,463 $12,289.00
Personal Care and Service 24,305 $12,305.00
Sales 124,143 $15,399.00
Office and Administrative Support 148,906 $19,530.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 8,600 $9,557.00
Construction and Extraction 49,794 $15,186.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 38,667 $18,920.00
Production 60,983 $17,981.00
Transportation and Material Moving 31,195 $16,404.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 38,836 $38,078.00 32,444 $36,046.00
Business and Financial 21,586 $36,482.00 31,336 $30,933.00
Computer and Mathematical 9,439 $41,064.00 3,803 $33,286.00
Architecture and Engineering 11,708 $46,432.00 3,143 $42,943.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 2,791 $39,100.00 5,579 $37,417.00
Community and Social Service 5,038 $22,917.00 11,207 $25,463.00
Legal 5,369 $64,745.00 5,093 $42,656.00
Educational and Library 16,359 $28,541.00 54,483 $23,991.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 7,911 $21,376.00 4,249 $22,421.00
Healthcare Practitioners 21,055 $31,217.00 51,040 $26,647.00
Healthcare Support 3,601 $20,053.00 20,428 $10,297.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 25,158 $16,141.00 7,510 $14,902.00
Law Enforcement 16,534 $32,898.00 4,655 $33,315.00
Food Preparation and Serving 29,528 $11,500.00 30,196 $10,378.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 37,602 $13,709.00 19,861 $9,414.00
Personal Care and Service 11,329 $14,100.00 12,976 $10,947.00
Sales 55,287 $20,571.00 68,856 $11,294.00
Office and Administrative Support 42,900 $20,785.00 106,006 $19,165.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 6,840 $10,035.00 1,760 $5,810.00
Construction and Extraction 48,423 $15,184.00 1,371 $15,232.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 37,852 $18,833.00 815 $22,724.00
Production 39,286 $18,694.00 21,697 $17,064.00
Transportation and Material Moving 28,248 $16,497.00 2,947 $15,196.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 1,196,790 households in Puerto Rico, with an average household size of 2.74 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 789,758 families in Puerto Rico with an average family size of 3.44 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 437,919 79,606 272,233 407,032
Average Household Size 3.37 3.95 3.72 1.17
Total Families 437,919 79,606 272,233 0
Average Household Size 3.35 3.49 3.56 0

Poverty

Of the 789,758 families in Puerto Rico, 39.20% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Puerto Rico:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 1,553,791 housing units in Puerto Rico.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 1,196,790 77.02%
Vacant 357,001 22.98%

15.05% of the total 1,553,791 housing units in Puerto Rico are rental units. This is approximately 233,901 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 814,154 are occupied by the owner - or 52.40% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Puerto Rico is $505.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Puerto Rico that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    148,735
  • Less than $500
    115,224
  • $500 to $999
    98,514
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    14,836
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    3,075
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    1,095
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    469
  • $3,000 or more
    688

Property Value

The median value of a property in Puerto Rico is $111,800.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Puerto Rico that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    68,977
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    271,601
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    239,976
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    123,411
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    69,795
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    27,089
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    9,424
  • $1,000,000 or more
    3,881

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Puerto Rico. The chart below shows the number of properties in Puerto Rico that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    30,210
  • 1940 to 1949
    54,393
  • 1950 to 1959
    135,188
  • 1960 to 1969
    272,090
  • 1970 to 1979
    354,943
  • 1980 to 1989
    259,425
  • 1990 to 1999
    235,211
  • 2000 to 2009
    189,019
  • 2010 to 2013
    23,070
  • 2014 or later
    242

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Puerto Rico that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    175,572
  • 1 vehicle available
    498,325
  • 2 vehicles available
    358,079
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    164,814

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Puerto Rico get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Puerto Rico that commute to work in a particular way.

28.6 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Puerto Rico.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    19,870
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    63,019
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    117,902
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    150,252
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    151,070
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    53,630
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    157,743
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    25,527
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    49,276
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    79,867
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    84,329
  • 90 or more minutes
    32,743

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Puerto Rico in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Zip Codes in Puerto Rico

If you want to find out more about the population and demographics of specific zip codes in Puerto Rico, click on the links below.