East · coastal · ~19 mi from San Juan
Living in Río Grande
Residents live in a coastal town close to metropolitan San Juan while having direct proximity to the natural expanse of El Yunque National Forest.
How Río Grande sits among Puerto Rico’s 78 towns: every figure against the median town, with its source. Visiting instead? Things to do in Río Grande.
Housing and money
Median rent in Río Grande runs 10% above the median of the 78 towns (20th highest of 78 towns).
- Median rent
- $585/momedian town $534 · 20th highest of 78
- Median home value
- $131,600median town $115,700 · 22nd highest of 78
- Median household income
- $28,943/yrmedian town $24,070 · 15th highest of 78
- Income per person
- $16,144median town $14,811
- Homes owner-occupied
- 71%median town 71.1%
- Homes vacant
- 27%median town 20.3%
- Below the poverty line
- 34%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 37 minutes, 10 minutes longer than the median of the 78 towns.
- Typical commute
- 37 minmedian town 27 min · 4th longest of 78
- Work from home
- 7.4%median town 4.5%
- Commute by transit
- 0.2%median town 0.3%
- Unemployment
- 15.0%median town 10.5%
- Households with broadband
- 84%median town 80.6% · 25th highest of 78
- To San Juan
- ~19 miNext door: Canóvanas, Loíza, Luquillo, Naguabo, Las Piedras and Ceiba
People
- Population
- 46,051Census estimate, 2020–2024 · 60.6 sq mi (157 km²)
- Residents per sq mi
- 759median town 763 · 39th least dense of 78
- Median age
- 44.7median town 44.9
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- 27%median town 24.1% · 28th highest of 78
Daily life
What is mapped in Río Grande today: counts, then per 10,000 residents so a small town and San Juan read on the same scale.
- Schools
- 337.2 per 10k · median town 6.3
- Supermarkets
- 30.7 per 10k · median town 0.7
- Parks
- 102.2 per 10k · median town 4.3
- Restaurants
- 347.4 per 10k · median town 2.4
- Beaches
- 4coastal town
Counts from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): what volunteers have mapped, not an official register. Places our guide recommends in Río Grande.
Water, power and safety
- Water. Río Grande 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 Río Grande are out right now. Outages by town
- Safety. 21.3 reported violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025, above most towns of the 78 towns (5 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.