West · coastal · ~70 mi from San Juan
Living in Mayagüez
Residents live in the largest city of the western region, with its own metropolitan area and long-established urban history dating to the 18th century.
How Mayagüez sits among Puerto Rico’s 78 towns: every figure against the median town, with its source. Visiting instead? Things to do in Mayagüez.
Housing and money
Median rent in Mayagüez runs 9% below the median of the 78 towns (19th lowest of 78 towns).
- Median rent
- $484/momedian town $534 · 19th lowest of 78
- Median home value
- $111,600median town $115,700 · 32nd lowest of 78
- Median household income
- $18,295/yrmedian town $24,070 · 5th lowest of 78
- Income per person
- $14,431median town $14,811
- Homes owner-occupied
- 50%median town 71.1%
- Homes vacant
- 29%median town 20.3%
- Below the poverty line
- 53%median town 44.1%
- Typical home built
- 1968median 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 22 minutes, 6 minutes shorter than the median of the 78 towns.
- Typical commute
- 22 minmedian town 27 min · 8th shortest of 78
- Work from home
- 4.5%median town 4.5%
- Commute by transit
- 1.0%median town 0.3%
- Unemployment
- 20.3%median town 10.5%
- Households with broadband
- 85%median town 80.6% · 21st highest of 78
- To San Juan
- ~70 miNext door: Hormigueros, Añasco, Cabo Rojo, San Germán, Las Marías and Maricao
People
- Population
- 70,828Census estimate, 2020–2024 · 77.6 sq mi (201 km²)
- Residents per sq mi
- 912median town 763 · 31st densest of 78
- Median age
- 43.3median town 44.9
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- 27%median town 24.1% · 26th highest of 78
Daily life
What is mapped in Mayagüez today: counts, then per 10,000 residents so a small town and San Juan read on the same scale.
- Schools
- 273.8 per 10k · median town 6.3
- Supermarkets
- 81.1 per 10k · median town 0.7
- Parks
- 263.7 per 10k · median town 4.3
- Restaurants
- 314.4 per 10k · median town 2.4
- Beaches
- 13coastal town
Counts from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): what volunteers have mapped, not an official register. Places our guide recommends in Mayagüez.
Water, power and safety
- Water. Mayagüez 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 Mayagüez are out right now. Outages by town
- Safety. 12.8 reported violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025, below most towns of the 78 towns (11 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.