Census: Income in Puerto Rico steady after recession
The U.S. Census Bureau released statistics Thursday confirming that the median household income for Puerto Rico and most of its 10 largest towns held steady after the most recent recession.
The Puerto Rico Community Survey showed that the island’s median household income was $19,518 during the post-recession period of 2010 to 2012, statistically unchanged from 2007 to 2009
Among the island’s 10 largest towns, only three showed statistical differences — all decreases — between the recession period of 2007-2009 and the post-recession period of 2010-2012. The median household income (in 2012 inflation-adjusted dollars) in San Juan decreased from $24,565 during the recession to $22,734 post-recession, Bayamón decreased from $26,760 to $23,848, and Ponce decreased from $18,204 to $16,930.
The Puerto Rico Community Survey provides annual statistics on more than 40 topics, such as education, occupation, language, ancestry and housing costs, for every community in Puerto Rico on its interactive American FactFinder tool.
The Puerto Rico Community Survey is similar to the American Community Survey, which can show statistics for Puerto Ricans living elsewhere in the U.S. For example, Puerto Ricans in the New York metro area — which has the most Puerto Ricans of any metro area in the U.S. — had a median household income of $36,613.
“The Puerto Rico Community Survey is unique in that it gives detailed information for small geographic areas every year,” said Mario Marazzi, executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics. “This information is used by researchers, students and private companies in their work and by the government to disperse federal funding to Puerto Rico.”
Two other towns, Guaynabo and Lares reflected the highest and lowest median household incomes, at $33,848 and $11,353, respectively, the survey showed.
In the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo metro area, the household income was $21,611, among the highest for the island’s metro areas. The Yauco metro area had one of the lowest household incomes with $15,070.
In terms of education, the survey showed that in Puerto Rico, 23.2 percent of the population 25 and older has a bachelor’s degree or higher. Meanwhile, 66.5 percent of the population 3 years and older enrolled in school were in kindergarten to 12th grade. Among them, 77.1 percent were enrolled in public school, while 22.9 percent were enrolled in private school.
Puerto Ricans living in the U.S.
The American Community Survey also has statistics regarding Puerto Ricans living in the United States that show:
- For Puerto Ricans living in the Miami metro area, the household income was $47,516. In the Chicago metro area, the median household income was $43,067 and in the Orlando metro area the median household income was $37,262. The income for the Orlando and New York areas were not statistically different from each other.
- For Puerto Ricans living in the Miami metro area, 67.7 percent were in the labor force, compared with 64.7 percent in the Chicago metro area and 64.2 percent in the New Haven, Conn., metro area. The rates for the Chicago and New Haven areas were not statistically different from each other.
- For Puerto Ricans living in the Miami metro area, 22.2 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 18.3 percent in the Orlando metro area and 16.2 percent in the Tampa metro area. The rates for the Orlando and Tampa areas were not statistically different from the rate for the Yauco metro area, and the rates for Puerto Rico and the Miami metro area were not statistically different from each other.
