Aguadilla, PR
Metro Area Profile
251,769 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Aguadilla, PR metropolitan area.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 9 sourcesUnemployment is 7.9% and median household income $22,398, putting employment conditions in the middle range of metro and micro areas measured.
Housing sits below most metro and micro areas measured for affordability: rent takes 29% of renter income and the median home is 4.9 times what its owners earn — each just short of the thresholds that would count as strained, but both toward the costly end.
Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, earthquake and landslide.
These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 7.9% — higher than in all but 2% of the 835 measured US metro and micro areas.
Employment grew 3.2% over the past year, to 87,513 employed residents.
Median household income of $22,398 is lower than in 99% of measured US metro and micro areas.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$8592024 ACS 5-Year | $22,398 | Bottom 1%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$4212024 ACS 5-Year | $14,199 | Bottom 1%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 46.0% | Bottom 1%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 25.9 min | Bottom 31%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 24.3% | Bottom 47%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 81.1% | 82nd percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 87,513 | Top 29%of 835 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | +9.4% | Top 1%of 835 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | +3.2% | Top 3%of 835 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 95,048 | 72nd percentileof 835 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 59.2% | Bottom 1%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage2025 OEWS | $36,610 | Bottom 1%of 392 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage2025 OEWS | $26,480 | Bottom 1%of 392 | 2025 OEWS |
| Metro employment2025 OEWS | 48,810 | 15th percentileof 392 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.3% | 40th percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | +1.0% | Bottom 4%of 835 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 7.9% | Bottom 2%of 835 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.0% | 33rd percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Largest occupations — Aguadilla, PR
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators | 2,860 | $24,960 |
| Retail Salespersons | 2,660 | $21,950 |
| Cashiers | 1,830 | $21,840 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 1,600 | $21,940 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 1,160 | $22,010 |
| Office Clerks, General | 1,100 | $22,240 |
Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
No Puerto Rico metropolitan area carries a whole-area LAUS series of its own; BLS publishes Puerto Rico labor data only at the municipio and commonwealth level. This is the sum of Aguadilla, PR Metro Area's 7 component municipios' own published employment and labor force, divided the same way BLS itself derives a metro rate from its component areas.
33% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 49% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 10.8 students for every full-time teacher across 57 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manuel Mendez Liciaga | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 886 | 11.7 | 12% | 37% |
| Dr. Carlos Gonzalez | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 843 | 17.6 | 86% | 85% |
| Dr. Heriberto Domenech | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 762 | 11.5 | 3% | 37% |
| Superior Catalina Morales Flores | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 718 | 11.8 | 18% | 46% |
| Profesora Juana Rosario Carrero | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 620 | 12.4 | 5% | 40% |
| Patria Latorre Ramirez | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 604 | 11.8 | 32% | 70% |
| Ramon Maria Torres | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 537 | 12.5 | 48% | 42% |
| Manuel Gonzalez Melo | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 529 | 11.0 | 32% | 50% |
| Epifanio Estrada Aguada | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 520 | 12.4 | 22% | 50% |
| Juan Lino Santiago | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 488 | 14.4 | 71% | 74% |
| Juan Suarez Pelegrina | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 488 | 13.6 | 8% | 37% |
| Antonio Badillo Hernandez | PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | 480 | 11.2 | 28% | 33% |
87.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Puerto Rico’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $429 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.33% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $564, close to the $528 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $564 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $22,600 a year, about 101% of the median household income here of $22,398.
The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $528 a month.
A median home at $130,500 costs 4.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $26,372, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.
The figures above are measured against Aguadilla’s median household income of $22,398, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year | 4.9 | Bottom 6%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year | 66.6% | 30th percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±1,5442024 ACS 5-Year | 127,158 | 81st percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $482 | Top 1%of 818 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $680 | Top 1%of 818 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $564 | Top 1%of 818 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$182024 ACS 5-Year | $528 | Top 1%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$4,0282024 ACS 5-Year | $130,500 | 9th percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$692024 ACS 5-Year | $429 | 1st percentileof 933 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$1,0042024 ACS 5-Year | $26,372 | Bottom 1%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.33% | 3rd percentileof 932 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 28.6% | Top 45%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±5952024 ACS 5-Year | 8,009 | 88th percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 6.3% | 79th percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 19.7% | 99th percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±1,2802024 ACS 5-Year | 33,028 | 91st percentileof 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 716 units authorized in 2025, up 38% on the prior year.
At 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metro and micro areas.
Housing units permitted per year
Census does not publish a Puerto Rico CBSA aggregate in the Building Permits Survey the way it does for the other 50 states and DC. This is the sum of Aguadilla, PR Metro Area's component municipios, from the same annual Island Areas file each municipio's own figure comes from.
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 66°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 77.5 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 77.5" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals | 0.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 66°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 89°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 6°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and inland flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 45% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.
Low or minimal exposure: avalanche, coastal flooding, cold wave, drought, hail, heat wave, ice storm, inland flooding, lightning, strong wind, tornado, tsunami, volcanic activity, wildfire, winter weather.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
What this profile does not cover
Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Cost of living
- Regional price parities are published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis for the fifty states, the District of Columbia and their metropolitan areas. Puerto Rico is outside that program.
- Death-certificate rates
- The CDC provisional county file covers the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Puerto Rico is not in it, so the homicide, firearm, overdose and suicide rates shown elsewhere on this site have no counterpart here.
- Air quality
- The EPA publishes an air-quality index by county, and only where a monitor sits, so a metropolitan area carries none of its own. The county profiles inside it show it where one exists.
- Taxes
- Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.
Access
2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Mercedita at 44 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 73.9% | Bottom 1%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 44 mi | Bottom 45%of 835 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 2 | Bottom 16%of 835 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year | 19.3% | Bottom 2%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedita | PSE | 44 mi | 8,002 ft |
| Luis Munoz Marin Intl | SJU | 72 mi | 10,400 ft |
| Henry E Rohlsen | STX | 158 mi | 10,002 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyData & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 2025 calendar year |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Current conditions | NOAA National Weather Service National Weather Service current conditions | Live observation, read when the page opens |
Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.