Best places to live in Puerto Rico
CityLedger tracks 5 Puerto Rico metros, led by San Juan. Every figure below is computed from public U.S. government data and links to a full profile.
CityLedger tracks 5 metros in Puerto Rico, the largest being the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR Metro Area (around 2,036,751 people). Across the state, median household income runs from $21,554 in Mayagüez to $30,640 in San Juan, and typical rent from $516 a month in Ponce upward — a reminder that "Puerto Rico" is really several different housing and job markets, not one.
Taxes shift the picture in ways a cost-of-living index alone misses: Puerto Rico has no state income tax, a real boost to take-home pay versus most states. Our salary calculator folds federal, FICA, and Puerto Rico state tax into a single take-home figure for any metro here.
San Juan earns the state's highest CityLedger livability score, 38/100; Ponce is the fastest-growing, up 21.9% over the latest population estimate; Arecibo carries the lowest natural-hazard loss rate, about $43 per $10,000 of property (FEMA). Open any metro below for the full, sourced breakdown behind these figures.
| Metro | Livability | Cost of living | Median income | Median rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan, PR | 38 | — | $30,640 | $620/mo |
| Ponce, PR | 35 | — | $23,324 | $516/mo |
| Arecibo, PR | 33 | — | $23,466 | $537/mo |
| Mayagüez, PR | 32 | — | $21,554 | $519/mo |
| Aguadilla, PR | 30 | — | $24,351 | $572/mo |
Browse every metro on the cities index or the rankings.
Living in Puerto Rico — frequently asked
- Does Puerto Rico have a state income tax?
- No. Puerto Rico has no state income tax, which raises take-home pay versus most states.
- Which Puerto Rico metro has the highest livability score?
- San Juan, at 38/100 on CityLedger's livability score — a transparent blend of affordability, jobs, income, education, and commute, all from public data.