Central · inland · ~14 mi from San Juan
Living in Aguas Buenas
Residents live in a mountainous, inland town that remains closely connected to San Juan and the surrounding metro area while retaining a town-and-barrio structure.
How Aguas Buenas sits among Puerto Rico’s 78 towns: every figure against the median town, with its source. Visiting instead? Things to do in Aguas Buenas.
Housing and money
Median rent in Aguas Buenas runs 12% below the median of the 78 towns (12th lowest of 78 towns).
- Median rent
- $468/momedian town $534 · 12th lowest of 78
- Median home value
- $144,000median town $115,700 · 16th highest of 78
- Median household income
- $23,072/yrmedian town $24,070 · 32nd lowest of 78
- Income per person
- $15,546median town $14,811
- Homes owner-occupied
- 64%median town 71.1%
- Homes vacant
- 19%median town 20.3%
- Below the poverty line
- 46%median town 44.1%
- Typical home built
- 1981median year
For scale: the U.S. median rent is $1,413 and household income $80,734; Puerto Rico's, island-wide, are $578 and $26,297. Full cost-of-living comparison.
Work and getting around
The typical commute is 33 minutes, 6 minutes longer than the median of the 78 towns.
- Typical commute
- 33 minmedian town 27 min · 9th longest of 78
- Work from home
- 3.2%median town 4.5%
- Commute by transit
- 0.5%median town 0.3%
- Unemployment
- 5.0%median town 10.5%
- Households with broadband
- 83%median town 80.6% · 34th highest of 78
- To San Juan
- ~14 miNext door: Caguas, Cidra, Guaynabo, Comerío, Bayamón and San Juan
People
- Population
- 23,614Census estimate, 2020–2024 · 30.1 sq mi (77.9 km²)
- Residents per sq mi
- 785median town 763 · 37th densest of 78
- Median age
- 44.8median town 44.9
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- 22%median town 24.1% · 25th lowest of 78
Daily life
What is mapped in Aguas Buenas today: counts, then per 10,000 residents so a small town and San Juan read on the same scale.
- Schools
- 218.9 per 10k · median town 6.3
- Supermarkets
- 10.4 per 10k · median town 0.7
- Parks
- 73 per 10k · median town 4.3
- Restaurants
- 10.4 per 10k · median town 2.4
- Beaches
- 0inland
Counts from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): what volunteers have mapped, not an official register. Places our guide recommends in Aguas Buenas.
Water, power and safety
- Water. Aguas Buenas is not on an AAA rationing calendar. Reservoir levels & the rationing calendar
- Power. LUMA reports outages by sector; the live tracker shows how many sectors in Aguas Buenas are out right now. Outages by town
- Safety. 12.3 reported violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025, below most towns of the 78 towns (5 homicides that year). Every town, with context
- Hurricanes. Every town prepares the same way; the Puerto Rico version of the checklist starts from a grid and water system that take longer to come back. Prepare
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates, 2020–2024 (small towns carry wide margins of error); OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), mapped as of Oct 4, 2026; Puerto Rico Police Bureau, SAEC Type I, 2025 full year; AAA: Plan de Interrupciones Programadas.
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