West · coastal · ~60 mi from San Juan
Living in Isabela
Residents live in a coastal town spread across 13 barrios with a downtown center in Isabela Pueblo, within the wider Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián metropolitan area.
How Isabela sits among Puerto Rico’s 78 towns: every figure against the median town, with its source. Visiting instead? Things to do in Isabela.
Housing and money
Median rent in Isabela runs 9% above the median of the 78 towns (22nd highest of 78 towns).
- Median rent
- $582/momedian town $534 · 22nd highest of 78
- Median home value
- $136,200median town $115,700 · 19th highest of 78
- Median household income
- $23,266/yrmedian town $24,070 · 33rd lowest of 78
- Income per person
- $14,167median town $14,811
- Homes owner-occupied
- 66%median town 71.1%
- Homes vacant
- 32%median town 20.3%
- Below the poverty line
- 44%median town 44.1%
- Typical home built
- 1983median 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 26 minutes, 1 minute shorter than the median of the 78 towns.
- Typical commute
- 26 minmedian town 27 min · 31st shortest of 78
- Work from home
- 5.0%median town 4.5%
- Commute by transit
- 0.0%median town 0.3%
- Unemployment
- 9.4%median town 10.5%
- Households with broadband
- 54%median town 80.6% · 5th lowest of 78
- To San Juan
- ~60 miNext door: Quebradillas, Moca, Aguadilla and San Sebastián
People
- Population
- 42,890Census estimate, 2020–2024 · 55.3 sq mi (143.3 km²)
- Residents per sq mi
- 774median town 763 · 38th densest of 78
- Median age
- 45.1median town 44.9
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- 24%median town 24.1% · 39th lowest of 78
Daily life
What is mapped in Isabela today: counts, then per 10,000 residents so a small town and San Juan read on the same scale.
- Schools
- 163.7 per 10k · median town 6.3
- Supermarkets
- 40.9 per 10k · median town 0.7
- Parks
- 92.1 per 10k · median town 4.3
- Restaurants
- 184.2 per 10k · median town 2.4
- Beaches
- 6coastal town
Counts from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): what volunteers have mapped, not an official register. Places our guide recommends in Isabela.
Water, power and safety
- Water. Isabela 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 Isabela are out right now. Outages by town
- Safety. 18 reported violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025, middle of the island of the 78 towns (3 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.