Mayagüez vs Ponce
Metro-area medians — Mayagüez, PR Metro Area vs Ponce, PR Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Ponce comes out ahead, winning 4 of the 5 clearly-decided measures.
Mayagüez and Ponce cost about the same to live in, but Ponce households earn about 8% more.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
Mayagüez, PR
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
No local price index — real value not shown.
Ponce, PR
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
No local price index — real value not shown.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
Measure
Mayagüez
Ponce
Livability (CityLedger)
32/100
35/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
—
—
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
—
—
Median household income
$21,554
$23,324
Median rent
$519/mo
$516/mo
Median home value
$133,000
$113,500
Unemployment
9.8%
14.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher
26.6%
25.9%
Average commute
24.6 min
24.9 min
Air quality (median AQI)
11
3
Avg temperature
76°F
76°F
Choose Ponce for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Median household income
- + Median home value
- + Air quality (median AQI)
Mayagüez vs Ponce — frequently asked
- Which has higher household income, Mayagüez or Ponce?
- Ponce has the higher median household income — $23,324 versus $21,554 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 8% more.
- Which has cheaper rent, Mayagüez or Ponce?
- Rents are close — $519/mo in the Mayagüez metro versus $516/mo in Ponce (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).