San Juan · coastal · ~4 mi from San Juan
Living in Cataño
Residents live in a compact, coastal town within the San Juan metro area, close to the capital while retaining its own distinct barrios and downtown center.
How Cataño sits among Puerto Rico’s 78 towns: every figure against the median town, with its source. Visiting instead? Things to do in Cataño.
Housing and money
Median rent in Cataño runs 6% above the median of the 78 towns (30th highest of 78 towns).
- Median rent
- $564/momedian town $534 · 30th highest of 78
- Median home value
- $144,500median town $115,700 · 15th highest of 78
- Median household income
- $25,508/yrmedian town $24,070 · 26th highest of 78
- Income per person
- $16,629median town $14,811
- Homes owner-occupied
- 60%median town 71.1%
- Homes vacant
- 18%median town 20.3%
- Below the poverty line
- 42%median town 44.1%
- Typical home built
- 1976median 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 25 minutes, 2 minutes shorter than the median of the 78 towns.
- Typical commute
- 25 minmedian town 27 min · 19th shortest of 78
- Work from home
- 6.0%median town 4.5%
- Commute by transit
- 0.7%median town 0.3%
- Unemployment
- 9.8%median town 10.5%
- Households with broadband
- 76%median town 80.6% · 25th lowest of 78
- To San Juan
- ~4 miNext door: Bayamón, Toa Baja and Guaynabo
People
- Population
- 22,467Census estimate, 2020–2024 · 4.8 sq mi (12.5 km²)
- Residents per sq mi
- 4,654median town 763 · 2nd densest of 78
- Median age
- 43.9median town 44.9
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- 23%median town 24.1% · 31st lowest of 78
Daily life
What is mapped in Cataño today: counts, then per 10,000 residents so a small town and San Juan read on the same scale.
- Schools
- 146.2 per 10k · median town 6.3
- Supermarkets
- 62.7 per 10k · median town 0.7
- Parks
- 135.8 per 10k · median town 4.3
- Restaurants
- 2511.1 per 10k · median town 2.4
- Beaches
- 1coastal town
Counts from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): what volunteers have mapped, not an official register. Places our guide recommends in Cataño.
Water, power and safety
- Water. Cataño 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 Cataño are out right now. Outages by town
- Safety. 22.7 reported violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025, above most towns of the 78 towns (4 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
FerrySan Juan to CatañoAbout 10 minutes
Next out of San Juan
Next back from Cataño
Every departure both ways, and whatever the ferry company has posted against today’s sailings.
Ferry scheduleSources: 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.