Best PlacesPuerto Rico Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Puerto Rico, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Puerto Rico is unranked among states under the default weighting. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Its strengths are low property taxes and affordable childcare. The cost shows up in low incomes, education levels, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Puerto Rico
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.
The best areas in Puerto Rico
The counties of Puerto Rico, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Juana Diaz Municipio, Cayey Municipio & Coamo Municipio
Fewer homes sit empty.
Toa Alta Municipio, Corozal Municipio & Guaynabo Municipio
It is quieter, though streets are more car-dependent.
Bayamon Municipio, Toa Baja Municipio & Vega Baja Municipio
Scores close to Toa Alta Municipio, Corozal Municipio & Guaynabo Municipio, except that more adults hold degrees here.
San Juan Municipio & Carolina Municipio
Biking is better, though prices have run up more.
Caguas Municipio, Trujillo Alto Municipio & Gurabo Municipio
Heat risk is higher.
Humacao Municipio, Yabucoa Municipio & San Lorenzo Municipio
Scores close to Caguas Municipio, Trujillo Alto Municipio & Gurabo Municipio, except that homes cost less here.
Ponce Municipio, Cabo Rojo Municipio & Yauco Municipio
Big-city amenities are further off.
Mayaguez Municipio, San Sebastian Municipio & Lares Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, Aguadilla Municipio & Isabela Municipio
Scores across Puerto Rico run from about the 1st to the 11th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Puerto Rico's strengths and weaknesses
Puerto Rico lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low property taxes is the standout, in the top 1% of states. Affordable childcare and clean air follow.
The one real hole is low incomes, near the bottom of the country. Education levels and the weather also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Puerto Rico ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of states
- Cheap childcare$404 a month, better than 99% of states
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of states
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of states
- Big-city accessBetter than 77% of states
Where Puerto Rico ranks low
- Household income$30,808 median, better than only 1% of states
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of states
- Nice weatherabout 8 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of states
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Puerto Rico
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Puerto Rico home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $30,808; 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 Puerto Rico's effective rate of 0.05%, 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 Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Puerto Rico.
Who works in Puerto Rico, and how
Work in Puerto Rico centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most states and less parkland per resident than most states. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Puerto Rico and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Puerto Rico, month by month
Puerto Rico sees roughly 8 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° |
Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico against states nationally.
Who Puerto Rico suits
Families
Weigh schools and safety yourself on the map to find the right areas.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Puerto Rico
Is Puerto Rico a good place to live?
It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and clean air, and lowest on low incomes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Puerto Rico expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,148. Set against a $30,808 median income, cost of living beats 50% of states.
Is Puerto Rico safe?
Puerto Rico is safer than 0% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $790 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Puerto Rico?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 82 with lows near 74. That works out to about 8 pleasant days a year, more than -1% of states.
What are the best areas in Puerto Rico?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Juana Diaz Municipio, Cayey Municipio & Coamo Municipio, Toa Alta Municipio, Corozal Municipio & Guaynabo Municipio, and Bayamon Municipio, Toa Baja Municipio & Vega Baja Municipio. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Puerto Rico with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Puerto Rico. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Puerto Rico 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.
Puerto Rico detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Puerto Rico: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Puerto Rico: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Puerto Rico: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Puerto Rico: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Puerto Rico 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.
- 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.