Best Places00638, PR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 00638, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
00638 is unranked among zip codes under the default weighting. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 00638
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
00638's strengths and weaknesses
Where 00638 ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$384 a month, better than 99% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 79% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 60% of zip codes
Where 00638 ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 22 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Household income$22,863 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 00638
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 00638 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $22,863; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 00638's effective rate of 0.02%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 00638
00638 runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 00638.
Who works in 00638, and how
Work in 00638 centers on retail trade and admin & support services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 00638
00638 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of zip codes. The coast is about 23 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 00638 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 00638, month by month
00638 sees roughly 22 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 82, with lows near 74. No month averages between 55 and 75 degrees.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 82° | 79° | 74° |
| April | 83° | 81° | 76° |
| July | 87° | 84° | 81° |
| October | 87° | 84° | 79° |
Flying in and out of 00638
The nearest airport, Mercedita, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Luis Munoz Marin International, about 33 miles away.
00638 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 00638 against zip codes nationally.
Common questions about living in 00638
Is 00638 a good place to live?
It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and clean air, and lowest on the weather and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 00638 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $101,267. Set against a $22,863 median income, cost of living beats 50% of zip codes.
Is 00638 safe?
00638 is safer than 7% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $684 per resident a year.
Compare 00638 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 00638. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 00638 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
00638 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 00638: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 00638: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 00638: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 00638: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
00638 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.