Ponce Municipio, PR

County Profile

132,760 residents. Jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Ponce Municipio, PR.

46out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 10% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 9 sources
Opportunity1,057th of 1,463 counties measured44
SchoolsTop 43% of 1,377 counties measured55
Growth934th of 1,453 counties measured42
Housing affordability1,296th of 1,462 counties measured56
ClimateTop 6% of 1,463 counties measured81
Physical resilience1,436th of 1,463 counties measured8
AccessTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured95
Economic stability1,457th of 1,463 counties measured4
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 10.6% and the Opportunity signal places Ponce Municipio in the bottom 28%.

In the public schools here, 28% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 10.3 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 32% of renter income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, while buying strains owner incomes less — the median home is 4.1 times what its owners earn, against a historic benchmark near three.

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
132,760
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$19,877
Bottom 1% nationally
Density
1,155/sq mi
114.9 sq mi of land
Median age
44.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ponce Municipio
Puerto Rico
Metro area
Nearest major airport
PSE
3 mi · Mercedita
Median home value
$110,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 10.6% — higher than in all but 1% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Unemployment has been rising for 4 consecutive months, most recently 10.6%.

Employment grew 2.6% over the past year, to 38,678 employed residents.

30% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $19,877 is lower than in 99% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$8262024 ACS 5-Year$19,877Bottom 1%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7502024 ACS 5-Year$14,625Bottom 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year49.3%Bottom 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.1 minTop 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year29.6%Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year85.3%94th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202638,678Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+5.6%Top 7%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.6%Top 8%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202643,24755th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year60.0%Bottom 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%52nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+2.3%Bottom 1%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 202610.6%Bottom 1%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year5.9%25th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/082022/082023/082024/082025/082026/07137.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 10.6% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 4 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202420k18k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $19,877 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 — Ponce, PR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons3,580$22,030
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners2,940$21,840
Cashiers2,320$21,840
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,100$21,840
Registered Nurses1,980$38,570
Office Clerks, General1,560$23,070

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.

28% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 47% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 10.3 students for every full-time teacher across 37 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
39
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
10.3
across 37 of them
Math proficiency
27.5%
Bottom 36% in Puerto Rico
Reading proficiency
46.6%
Top 43% in Puerto Rico
The 12 largest of 39 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Bernardino Cordero BernardPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION1,32314.12%47%
Superior Jardines De PoncePUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION50914.53%42%
Lucy GrillascaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION4979.942%32%
Herminia GarciaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION46712.671%80%
Ponce High SchoolPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION44110.53%37%
Angela Cordero BernardPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION4339.844%52%
Fernando Luis Malave OliverasPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION42610.737%48%
Juan Cuevas AboyPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION37113.367%77%
Eduardo Neumann GandiaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION32510.214%34%
Superior Juan SerrallesPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION31612.63%42%
Jardines De PoncePUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION30911.95%36%
Intermedia Juan SerrallesPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION30010.76%44%

87.7% 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 $655 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.59% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $538, close to the $536 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $538 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $21,500 a year, about 108% of the median household income here of $19,877.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $536 a month.

A median home at $110,200 costs 4.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $26,951, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
32.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$538
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$536
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$110,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Ponce Municipio’s median household income of $19,877, 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-Year4.1Bottom 10%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year67.3%21st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8122024 ACS 5-Year69,74187th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$491Top 1%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$748Top 1%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$538Top 1%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$212024 ACS 5-Year$536Top 2%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,0982024 ACS 5-Year$110,20011th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1012024 ACS 5-Year$6559th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,2362024 ACS 5-Year$26,951Bottom 1%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.09%2024 ACS 5-Year0.59%28th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.4%Bottom 12%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2292024 ACS 5-Year1,13777th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.6%37th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year18.3%93rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±7382024 ACS 5-Year13,91194th 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

42/ 100
Ranks 934 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 upward after moving the other way the year before: 49 units authorized in 2025, up 26% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 49 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
49
2025 calendar year
Per 1,000 residents
0.4
Bottom 6% nationally
Year over year
+26%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420256939
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−29%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 63°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 37.5 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 3, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PONCE 4 E, 5.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals37.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals63°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year32024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals6°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
3
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
38
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

8 / 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 56% 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
LandslideElevated

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.
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 3 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year86.2%Bottom 45%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle3 miTop 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year12.3%Bottom 34%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
MerceditaPSE3 mi8,002 ft
Luis Munoz Marin IntlSJU50 mi10,400 ft
Henry E RohlsenSTX120 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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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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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 Ponce 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.