East · coastal · ~15 mi from San Juan
Living in Loíza
Residents live in a coastal, culturally distinct outer town of the San Juan metro area, spread across 5 barrios with the town's Afro-Puerto Rican heritage shaping daily life.
How Loíza sits among Puerto Rico’s 78 towns: every figure against the median town, with its source. Visiting instead? Things to do in Loíza.
Housing and money
Median rent in Loíza runs 13% below the median of the 78 towns (11th lowest of 78 towns).
- Median rent
- $464/momedian town $534 · 11th lowest of 78
- Median home value
- $111,000median town $115,700 · 29th lowest of 78
- Median household income
- $24,272/yrmedian town $24,070 · 36th highest of 78
- Income per person
- $13,835median town $14,811
- Homes owner-occupied
- 70%median town 71.1%
- Homes vacant
- 23%median town 20.3%
- Below the poverty line
- 43%median town 44.1%
- Typical home built
- 1985median 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 32 minutes, 5 minutes longer than the median of the 78 towns.
- Typical commute
- 32 minmedian town 27 min · 11th longest of 78
- Work from home
- 4.4%median town 4.5%
- Commute by transit
- 0.6%median town 0.3%
- Unemployment
- 20.2%median town 10.5%
- Households with broadband
- 86%median town 80.6% · 11th highest of 78
- To San Juan
- ~15 miNext door: Canóvanas, Río Grande and Carolina
People
- Population
- 22,768Census estimate, 2020–2024 · 19.4 sq mi (50.2 km²)
- Residents per sq mi
- 1,176median town 763 · 20th densest of 78
- Median age
- 44.1median town 44.9
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- 19%median town 24.1% · 10th lowest of 78
Daily life
What is mapped in Loíza today: counts, then per 10,000 residents so a small town and San Juan read on the same scale.
- Schools
- 104.4 per 10k · median town 6.3
- Supermarkets
- 10.4 per 10k · median town 0.7
- Parks
- 83.5 per 10k · median town 4.3
- Restaurants
- 94 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 Loíza.
Water, power and safety
- Water. Sectors of Loíza are on AAA's Carraízo rationing calendar (zone 1), with interruptions currently paused. Reservoir levels & the rationing calendar
- Power. LUMA reports outages by sector; the live tracker shows how many sectors in Loíza are out right now. Outages by town
- Safety. 40 reported violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025, among the highest of the 78 towns (9 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
Beach water
Within limits: Playa Vacía Talega. Last tested Oct 6, over 2 weeks ago.
Not sampled recently: Vacía Talega. Last tested Mar 15, 2024.
Beach water qualitySources: 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.