Carolina, Puerto Rico

Area Profile

138,633 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Carolina, in Carolina Municipio.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 20% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 9 sources
OpportunityTop 48% of 4,199 cities measured57
Schools2,226th of 4,162 cities measured47
Growth3,211th of 4,224 cities measured36
Housing affordabilityTop 47% of 4,218 cities measured68
ClimateTop 23% of 4,225 cities measured77
Physical resilience4,053rd of 4,226 cities measured10
AccessTop 31% of 4,226 cities measured97
Economic stability3,944th of 4,226 cities measured27
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $37,726, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Carolina Municipio, PR, which contains Carolina, rather than for Carolina alone.

In the public schools here, 30% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 9.8 students for every teacher.

14 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 13% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Carolina Municipio, PR, which contains Carolina, rather than for Carolina alone.

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
138,633
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$37,726
Bottom 8% nationally
Density
6,693/sq mi
20.7 sq mi of land
Median age
45.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Puerto Rico
Nearest major airport
SJU
2 mi · Luis Munoz Marin Intl
Median home value
$158,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Carolina Municipio, PR, which contains Carolina, is 4.8% — higher than in all but 32% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Carolina Municipio, PR, which contains Carolina, grew 2.8% over the past year, to 64,284 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $37,726 is lower than in 92% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$1,7012024 ACS 5-Year$37,726Bottom 8%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7932024 ACS 5-Year$22,436Bottom 13%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.2%Bottom 12%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.0 minBottom 22%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year37.0%Top 22%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%56th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentCarolina Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 202664,284Top 49%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Carolina Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 2026+6.4%Top 3%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Carolina Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 2026+2.8%Top 4%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceCarolina Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 202667,51451st percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year76.9%Bottom 45%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageSan Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$39,970Bottom 1%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageSan Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$29,440Bottom 1%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%83rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Carolina Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 2026+1.1%Bottom 3%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateCarolina Municipio, PR’s figureJuly 20264.8%Bottom 32%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.6%66th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202438k31k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $37,726 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 — San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons27,950$22,780
Security Guards22,420$21,840
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners21,530$21,930
Cashiers18,010$22,300
Fast Food and Counter Workers17,900$22,130
Customer Service Representatives15,940$26,520

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 Carolina Municipio, PR, which contains this city.

30% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 38% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 9.8 students for every full-time teacher across 20 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
20
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
9.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
29.5%
Top 50% in Puerto Rico
Reading proficiency
38.2%
Bottom 14% in Puerto Rico
The 12 largest of 20 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Jose Severo QuinonesPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION62811.431%28%
Luz America CalderonPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION45112.93%32%
Petra Roman VigoPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION4169.710%36%
Francisco Matias LugoPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION4049.937%29%
Agustin CabreraPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION32310.83%33%
Prisco FuentesPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION3018.650%58%
Jesus Maria SanromaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION29210.117%12%
Juana A. MendezPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2827.872%60%
Maria Teresa SerranoPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION25910.467%67%
Dr. Modesto Rivera RiveraPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2469.545%39%
Salvador BrauPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION22012.23%22%
Dr. Jose M. LazaroPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2198.13%32%

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.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $763 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.48% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $663, close to the $677 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $663 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $26,500 a year, about 70% of the median household income here of $37,726.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $677 a month.

A median home at $158,400 costs 3.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $45,750, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
29.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$663
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$677
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$158,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Carolina’s median household income of $37,726, 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 ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.5Bottom 25%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year67.3%33rd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,2212024 ACS 5-Year74,05399th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$572Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$868Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$663Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$252024 ACS 5-Year$677Top 14%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,0412024 ACS 5-Year$158,40041st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$652024 ACS 5-Year$76315th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,9722024 ACS 5-Year$45,750Bottom 9%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.48%10th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year29.8%Bottom 42%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4382024 ACS 5-Year4,03399th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%82nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year13.9%76th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±8952024 ACS 5-Year14,31899th 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

36/ 100
Ranks 3,211 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 14 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Carolina Municipio, PR, which contains Carolina, rather than for Carolina alone.

At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Carolina Municipio, PR, which contains Carolina, rather than for Carolina alone.

Units permitted
14
2025 calendar year
Per 1,000 residents
0.1
Bottom 6% nationally
Year over year
−13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 70°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 65.2 inches.

60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WFO SAN JUAN, 1.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND7.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals65.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals70°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 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

10 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and inland flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 54% 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.

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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Luis Munoz Marin Intl at 2 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year90.4%Top 47%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle2 miTop 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%Bottom 44%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Luis Munoz Marin IntlSJU2 mi10,400 ft
MerceditaPSE47 mi8,002 ft
Henry E RohlsenSTX92 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
50
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Where Carolina 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.

Other cities in San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
San JuanSan Juan Municipio317,99551San Juan vs Carolina
BayamónBayamón Municipio166,92345Bayamón vs Carolina
CaguasCaguas Municipio72,92247Caguas vs Carolina
GuaynaboGuaynabo Municipio70,59955
Trujillo AltoTrujillo Alto Municipio43,61160
Mansión del MarToa Baja Municipio25,51058
FajardoFajardo Municipio24,26951
Vega BajaVega Baja Municipio22,75651
CatañoCataño Municipio22,467—
HumacaoHumacao Municipio15,78744
CandelariaToa Baja Municipio14,86860
CayeyCayey Municipio14,65553

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Carolina side by side with a similar place.

Carolina vs San JuanCarolina vs Bayamón

Moving to Carolina 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 Carolina

5 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Carolina 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 Carolina 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
0098755,747$43,159$158,60058
0098331,472$35,638$159,900—
0098530,497$33,863$148,80047
0097914,776$40,049$189,900—
0098214,050$28,906$143,100—