Arecibo, Puerto Rico

Area Profile

40,831 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Arecibo, in Arecibo Municipio.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 45% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 9 sources
Opportunity3,003rd of 4,199 cities measured46
SchoolsTop 1% of 4,162 cities measured98
Growth2,440th of 4,224 cities measured47
Housing affordabilityTop 40% of 4,218 cities measured70
ClimateTop 4% of 4,225 cities measured100
Physical resilience3,301st of 4,226 cities measured28
Access3,333rd of 4,226 cities measured80
Economic stability4,209th of 4,226 cities measured11
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 7.8% and the Opportunity signal places Arecibo in the bottom 28%. The unemployment rate is published for Arecibo Municipio, PR, which contains Arecibo, rather than for Arecibo alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 49% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 1% of published profiles for schools.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.7 times what its owners earn.

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

Population
40,831
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$22,968
Bottom 2% nationally
Density
2,631/sq mi
15.5 sq mi of land
Median age
45.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Puerto Rico
Metro area
Nearest major airport
PSE
33 mi · Mercedita
Median home value
$114,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Arecibo Municipio, PR, which contains Arecibo, is 7.8% — higher than in all but 2% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Arecibo Municipio, PR, which contains Arecibo, grew 4.2% over the past year, to 28,458 employed residents.

Median household income of $22,968 is lower than in 98% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$1,6512024 ACS 5-Year$22,968Bottom 2%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0742024 ACS 5-Year$15,906Bottom 4%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year40.7%Bottom 5%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.4 minTop 43%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.4%Top 30%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year87.2%80th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentArecibo Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 202628,458Bottom 34%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Arecibo Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 2026+7.7%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Arecibo Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 2026+4.2%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceArecibo Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 202630,86735th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year64.0%Bottom 16%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageArecibo, PR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$34,630Bottom 1%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageArecibo, PR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$26,120Bottom 1%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%76th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Arecibo Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 2026+1.4%Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateArecibo Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 20267.8%Bottom 2%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.7%35th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202423k19k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $22,968 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Arecibo, PR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons2,260$22,390
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,440$21,840
Cashiers1,360$22,440
Sewing Machine Operators1,010$22,550
Registered Nurses870$37,460
Stockers and Order Fillers810$24,690

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a labor-market series for this place — true of a consolidated city-county, a city and county sharing one government, or a Puerto Rico municipio, regardless of population. This is the figure for Arecibo Municipio, PR, which contains this city.

49% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 60% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 8.5 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
8.5
across 10 of them
Math proficiency
48.7%
Top 4% in Puerto Rico
Reading proficiency
60.1%
Top 1% in Puerto Rico
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Paradiso College Preparatory - Alianza · charterPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION67814.1——
Dr. Cayetano Coll Y TostePUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION4718.084%95%
Manuel Ruiz GandiaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION3257.715%34%
Federico Degetau AreciboPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION3168.115%36%
Francisco Pachin MarinPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2307.272%77%
Eugenio Maria De Hostos AreciboPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2108.422%32%
Enrique De Jesus BorrasPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2017.452%57%
Julio SeijoPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION1748.377%72%
John W. HarrisPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION1575.447%62%
Victor Rojas IPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION424.7——
Cotto AnexoPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION352.5——

87.5% 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.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $532 a year in real estate taxes.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $510, close to the $505 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $510 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $20,400 a year, about 89% of the median household income here of $22,968.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $505 a month.

A median home at $114,000 costs 3.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $30,454, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
27.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$510
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$505
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$114,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Arecibo’s median household income of $22,968, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.7Bottom 21%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year59.5%20th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7582024 ACS 5-Year21,38897th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$440Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$699Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$510Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$492024 ACS 5-Year$505Top 4%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,7962024 ACS 5-Year$114,00025th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2872024 ACS 5-Year$5327th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,1212024 ACS 5-Year$30,454Bottom 2%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.4%Top 44%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2592024 ACS 5-Year88398th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.1%78th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year19.0%87th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5072024 ACS 5-Year4,95099th percentileof 32,3302024 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.

Development Momentum

47/ 100
Ranks 2,440 of 4,224 published city profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 86 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 6% are in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Arecibo Municipio, PR, which contains Arecibo, rather than for Arecibo alone.

At 1.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Arecibo Municipio, PR, which contains Arecibo, rather than for Arecibo alone.

Units permitted
86
2025 calendar year
Per 1,000 residents
1.0
Bottom 26% nationally
Year over year
+18%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
5.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey lists only jurisdictions that issue their own permits, and Arecibo, PR is not one. This is the figure for Arecibo Municipio, PR, which contains this city.

Weather & climate

12 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 61°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 84.6 inches.

50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ARECIBO OBSY, 7.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND10.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals84.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals61°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals121991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals6°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

28 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, tsunami and earthquake, with hurricane alone responsible for 36% of it. Tsunami is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneHigh
LandslideModerate

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. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. 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. Either no municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — or its department did not report every month of the year. Either way there is no figure to show. 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 only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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 33 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.8%Bottom 16%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle33 miBottom 25%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.7%Bottom 13%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
MerceditaPSE33 mi8,002 ft
Luis Munoz Marin IntlSJU48 mi10,400 ft
Henry E RohlsenSTX137 mi10,002 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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60
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Where Arecibo ranks

Top-ten placements in AreaProfile’s standing rankings

Every ranking is a standing calculation over all published profiles, not an editorial selection. Each one states its cohort, its inputs and what it excludes.

Compare

Put Arecibo side by side with a similar place.

Arecibo vs YaucoArecibo vs Manatí

Moving to Arecibo from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
2025 calendar year
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
Current conditionsNOAA 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.

ZIP codes in Arecibo

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Arecibo with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Arecibo closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
0061262,908$24,488$117,600—