Río Grande Municipio, PR

County Profile

46,051 residents. Jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Río Grande Municipio, PR.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 23% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 8 sources
Opportunity765th of 1,463 counties measured54
SchoolsTop 15% of 1,377 counties measured77
Growth1,332nd of 1,453 counties measured24
Housing affordability1,358th of 1,462 counties measured51
ClimateTop 1% of 1,463 counties measured100
Physical resilience1,429th of 1,463 counties measured9
AccessTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured94
Economic stability1,413th of 1,463 counties measured14
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.5% and median household income $28,943, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 36% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 15% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 26 units authorized over the past twelve months, 43% below the prior year.

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
46,051
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$28,943
Bottom 2% nationally
Density
760/sq mi
60.6 sq mi of land
Median age
44.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Río Grande Municipio
Puerto Rico
Nearest major airport
SJU
14 mi · Luis Munoz Marin Intl
Median home value
$131,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% — higher than in all but 35% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 2.8% over the past year, to 18,671 employed residents.

Median household income of $28,943 is lower than in 98% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,3562024 ACS 5-Year$28,943Bottom 2%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1112024 ACS 5-Year$16,144Bottom 2%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year34.5%Bottom 3%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year40.8 minBottom 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.7%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year81.6%79th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202618,671Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+6.1%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.8%Top 6%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202619,55829th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.0%Bottom 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%51st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Bottom 12%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.5%Bottom 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/082022/082023/082024/082025/082026/078.93.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202429k24k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $28,943 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.

36% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 47% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 10.7 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
10.7
across 9 of them
Math proficiency
35.7%
Top 18% in Puerto Rico
Reading proficiency
47.3%
Top 39% in Puerto Rico
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Pedro Falu OrellanoPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION61314.33%27%
Antera Rosado FuentesPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION44411.777%77%
Liberata IraldoPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION31913.311%34%
Felix Sanchez CruzPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2688.967%57%
Carmen Feliciano CarreraPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION25011.99%38%
Rafael De JesusPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2087.762%62%
Rafael Rexach DuenoPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION1507.992%92%
Casiano CepedaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION1306.51%25%
Edmundo Del Valle CruzPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION1259.637%32%
Prevocacional Casiano CepedaPUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION473.410%10%

86.9% 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 $485 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.37% 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 13% above the $585 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 92% of the median household income here of $28,943.

The typical renter household here spends 37% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $585 a month.

A median home at $131,600 costs 3.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $34,472, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
36.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$663
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$585
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$131,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Río Grande Municipio’s median household income of $28,943, 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 ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year3.8Bottom 13%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.1%33rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6482024 ACS 5-Year23,37669th 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 ±$782024 ACS 5-Year$585Top 4%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,7692024 ACS 5-Year$131,60022nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1442024 ACS 5-Year$4854th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,1702024 ACS 5-Year$34,472Bottom 2%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year0.37%5th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year36.8%Bottom 2%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2992024 ACS 5-Year2,53987th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year10.9%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year15.8%87th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5092024 ACS 5-Year6,24084th 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

24/ 100
Ranks 1,332 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of 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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 26 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
26
2025 calendar year
Per 1,000 residents
0.6
Bottom 9% nationally
Year over year
−43%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420258126
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−68%).

Weather & climate

12 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 70°F and January a low of 59°F.

50°70°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PICO DEL ESTE, 7.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

MetricValueSource period
Average January low1991-2020 Normals59°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals70°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

9 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and tsunami, with hurricane alone responsible for 58% 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
LandslideHigh

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 14 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.0%Bottom 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle14 miTop 16%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year15.3%Bottom 18%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Luis Munoz Marin IntlSJU14 mi10,400 ft
MerceditaPSE56 mi8,002 ft
Henry E RohlsenSTX80 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
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 Río Grande 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.