Carolina Municipio, PR

County Profile

152,204 residents. Jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Carolina Municipio, PR.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 10% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 8 sources
Opportunity756th of 1,463 counties measured55
Schools1,024th of 1,377 counties measured31
Growth1,207th of 1,453 counties measured32
Housing affordability1,090th of 1,462 counties measured67
ClimateTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured77
Physical resilience1,417th of 1,463 counties measured10
AccessTop 11% of 1,463 counties measured97
Economic stability1,299th of 1,463 counties measured27
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $36,958, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 25% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 10.0 students for every teacher.

14 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 13% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
152,204
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$36,958
Bottom 4% nationally
Density
3,354/sq mi
45.4 sq mi of land
Median age
45.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Carolina Municipio
Puerto Rico
Nearest major airport
SJU
4 mi · Luis Munoz Marin Intl
Median home value
$157,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% — higher than in all but 26% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 2.8% over the past year, to 64,284 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $36,958 is lower than in 96% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$1,4322024 ACS 5-Year$36,958Bottom 4%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7082024 ACS 5-Year$22,102Bottom 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.8%Bottom 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.2 minBottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year36.0%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.0%60th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202664,284Top 33%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+6.4%Top 4%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.8%Top 6%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202667,51467th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year76.7%Top 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+1.1%Bottom 4%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.8%Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.4%72nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/082022/082023/082024/082025/082026/078.53.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202437k31k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $36,958 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.

25% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 37% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 10.0 students for every full-time teacher across 25 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
25
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
10.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
24.6%
Bottom 18% in Puerto Rico
Reading proficiency
37.1%
Bottom 11% in Puerto Rico
The 12 largest of 25 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Jose Severo QuinonesPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION62811.431%28%
Gilberto Concepcion De GraciaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION59813.93%42%
Angel P. Millan RohenaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION53414.411%26%
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%
Carlos F. DanielsPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION3937.6——
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%

87.4% 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 $736 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.47% 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 72% of the median household income here of $36,958.

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 $157,600 costs 3.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $44,645, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
29.9%
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
$157,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Carolina Municipio’s median household income of $36,958, 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 ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year3.5Bottom 17%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year68.0%23rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,2522024 ACS 5-Year80,20088th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$572Top 1%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$868Top 1%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$663Top 1%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$242024 ACS 5-Year$677Top 12%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$1,9262024 ACS 5-Year$157,60035th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$592024 ACS 5-Year$73612th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,6222024 ACS 5-Year$44,645Bottom 4%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.47%13th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year29.9%Bottom 29%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4422024 ACS 5-Year4,12392nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%66th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year13.8%79th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±9022024 ACS 5-Year15,21894th percentileof 3,2222024 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

32/ 100
Ranks 1,207 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 downward after moving the other way the year before: 14 units authorized in 2025, against 16 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 14 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
14
2025 calendar year
Per 1,000 residents
0.1
Bottom 3% nationally
Year over year
−13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420251814
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−22%).

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, 2.8 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). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. 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 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 ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year90.1%Top 25%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle4 miTop 2%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%Top 39%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Luis Munoz Marin IntlSJU4 mi10,400 ft
MerceditaPSE47 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
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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
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.

Cities in Carolina Municipio, PR

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.