00985 — Carolina, Puerto Rico

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 00985. Its median household income runs 10% below Carolina as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 13% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 9 sources
OpportunityTop 49% of 3,116 ZIP areas measured54
Schools2,271st of 3,047 ZIP areas measured31
Growth2,401st of 3,124 ZIP areas measured36
Housing affordabilityTop 47% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured69
ClimateTop 24% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured77
Physical resilience2,995th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured10
AccessTop 30% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured97
Economic stability2,986th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured18
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $33,863, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for Carolina, PR, which contains 00985, rather than for 00985 alone.

In the public schools here, 24% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 10.9 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, PR, which contains 00985, rather than for 00985 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
30,497
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$33,863
Bottom 3% nationally
Density
3,302/sq mi
9.2 sq mi of land
Median age
48.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Carolina
Puerto Rico
Nearest major airport
SJU
4 mi · Luis Munoz Marin Intl
Median home value
$148,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Carolina, PR, which contains 00985, is 4.8% — higher than in all but 35% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Carolina, PR, which contains 00985, grew 2.8% over the past year, to 64,284 employed residents.

Median household income of $33,863 is lower than in 97% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,6012024 ACS 5-Year$33,863Bottom 3%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1682024 ACS 5-Year$19,235Bottom 5%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.5%Bottom 7%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.9 minBottom 21%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.1%Top 36%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year82.6%75th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentCarolina, PR’s figureJuly 202664,284Top 41%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Carolina, PR’s figureJuly 2026+6.4%Top 3%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Carolina, PR’s figureJuly 2026+2.8%Top 5%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceCarolina, PR’s figureJuly 202667,51459th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.1%Bottom 32%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageSan Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$39,970Bottom 1%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageSan Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$29,440Bottom 1%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%79th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Carolina, PR’s figureJuly 2026+1.1%Bottom 3%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateCarolina, PR’s figureJuly 20264.8%Bottom 35%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%34th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202435k30k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $33,863 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 labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Carolina, PR, the city containing this ZIP code.

24% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 37% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 10.9 students for every full-time teacher across 8 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
8
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
10.9
across all schools here
Math proficiency
23.8%
Bottom 18% in Puerto Rico
Reading proficiency
37.0%
Bottom 9% in Puerto Rico
All 8 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Jose Severo QuinonesPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION62811.431%28%
Luz America CalderonPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION45112.93%32%
Agustin CabreraPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION32310.83%33%
Dr. Modesto Rivera RiveraPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2469.545%39%
Salvador BrauPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION22012.23%22%
Jesus T. Pinero CarolinaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2179.044%55%
Rvdo. Felix Castro RodriguezPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION15711.210%47%
Jesus Manuel SuarezPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION1459.187%82%

87.9% 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 $634 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.43% 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, some 10% above the $601 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 78% of the median household income here of $33,863.

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 $601 a month.

A median home at $148,800 costs 3.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $42,539, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
29.1%
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
$601
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$148,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 00985’s median household income of $33,863, 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-Year3.5Bottom 27%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year65.0%21st percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6912024 ACS 5-Year15,34292nd percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$572Top 1%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$868Top 1%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$663Top 1%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$772024 ACS 5-Year$601Top 6%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,2992024 ACS 5-Year$148,80026th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1102024 ACS 5-Year$6348th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,0922024 ACS 5-Year$42,539Bottom 4%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year0.43%7th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.1%Bottom 45%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1142024 ACS 5-Year17684th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%51st percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year14.9%83rd percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3472024 ACS 5-Year2,46598th percentileof 33,7722024 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 2,401 of 3,124 published ZIP 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, PR, which contains 00985, rather than for 00985 alone.

At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Carolina, PR, which contains 00985, rather than for 00985 alone.

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

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Carolina, PR, the city containing this ZIP code.

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, 3.2 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 55% 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. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Carolina carries the figure where its 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 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 4 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year89.4%Top 50%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle4 miTop 5%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 21%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.2%Bottom 43%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Luis Munoz Marin IntlSJU4 mi10,400 ft
MerceditaPSE49 mi8,002 ft
Henry E RohlsenSTX90 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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Area Score
47
Your Score
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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.

00985 vs Carolina

How this ZIP area compares with Carolina as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

00985
Carolina
Median household income: Carolina is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$33,863
vs
$37,726
Per capita income: Carolina is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$19,235
vs
$22,436
Population density
3,302/sq mi
vs
6,693/sq mi
Median home value
$148,800
vs
$158,400
Median gross rent: 00985 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$601
vs
$677
Homeownership rate
65.0%
vs
67.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Carolina is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
29.1%
vs
37.0%
Poverty rate: Carolina is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
28.5%
vs
27.2%
Median age
48.9
vs
45.3

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.