East · coastal · ~26 mi from San Juan
Living in Luquillo
Residents live in a coastal town within the Fajardo metro area, spread across several barrios, with the Sierra de Luquillo and El Yunque National Forest close by.
How Luquillo sits among Puerto Rico’s 78 towns: every figure against the median town, with its source. Visiting instead? Things to do in Luquillo.
Housing and money
Median rent in Luquillo runs 6% below the median of the 78 towns (26th lowest of 78 towns).
- Median rent
- $504/momedian town $534 · 26th lowest of 78
- Median home value
- $138,500median town $115,700 · 18th highest of 78
- Median household income
- $24,225/yrmedian town $24,070 · 39th highest of 78
- Income per person
- $16,377median town $14,811
- Homes owner-occupied
- 69%median town 71.1%
- Homes vacant
- 36%median town 20.3%
- Below the poverty line
- 45%median town 44.1%
- Typical home built
- 1979median 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 30 minutes, 2 minutes longer than the median of the 78 towns.
- Typical commute
- 30 minmedian town 27 min · 25th longest of 78
- Work from home
- 6.9%median town 4.5%
- Commute by transit
- 0.5%median town 0.3%
- Unemployment
- 17.6%median town 10.5%
- Households with broadband
- 84%median town 80.6% · 27th highest of 78
- To San Juan
- ~26 miNext door: Fajardo and Río Grande
People
- Population
- 17,532Census estimate, 2020–2024 · 25.8 sq mi (66.9 km²)
- Residents per sq mi
- 679median town 763 · 32nd least dense of 78
- Median age
- 45.5median town 44.9
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- 24%median town 24.1% · 38th highest of 78
Daily life
What is mapped in Luquillo today: counts, then per 10,000 residents so a small town and San Juan read on the same scale.
- Schools
- 126.8 per 10k · median town 6.3
- Supermarkets
- 10.6 per 10k · median town 0.7
- Parks
- 126.8 per 10k · median town 4.3
- Restaurants
- 5028.5 per 10k · median town 2.4
- Beaches
- 11coastal town
Counts from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): what volunteers have mapped, not an official register. Places our guide recommends in Luquillo.
Water, power and safety
- Water. Luquillo 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 Luquillo are out right now. Outages by town
- Safety. 30.2 reported violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025, among the highest of the 78 towns (0 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 Azul and Playa de Luquillo. Last tested Oct 6, over 2 weeks ago.
Not sampled recently: Balneario La Monserrate and Playa Azul. 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.