North · coastal · ~15 mi from San Juan
Living in Vega Alta
Residents live in a coastal town within commuting distance of San Juan, with the town organized into seven barrios surrounding its central barrio-pueblo.
How Vega Alta sits among Puerto Rico’s 78 towns: every figure against the median town, with its source. Visiting instead? Things to do in Vega Alta.
Housing and money
Median rent in Vega Alta runs 25% above the median of the 78 towns (10th highest of 78 towns).
- Median rent
- $667/momedian town $534 · 10th highest of 78
- Median home value
- $140,700median town $115,700 · 17th highest of 78
- Median household income
- $25,538/yrmedian town $24,070 · 25th highest of 78
- Income per person
- $18,289median town $14,811
- Homes owner-occupied
- 70%median town 71.1%
- Homes vacant
- 18%median town 20.3%
- Below the poverty line
- 41%median town 44.1%
- Typical home built
- 1986median 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 31 minutes, 4 minutes longer than the median of the 78 towns.
- Typical commute
- 31 minmedian town 27 min · 17th longest of 78
- Work from home
- 7.9%median town 4.5%
- Commute by transit
- 0.4%median town 0.3%
- Unemployment
- 15.5%median town 10.5%
- Households with broadband
- 83%median town 80.6% · 32nd highest of 78
- To San Juan
- ~15 miNext door: Dorado, Corozal, Vega Baja, Toa Alta and Morovis
People
- Population
- 34,921Census estimate, 2020–2024 · 27.7 sq mi (71.8 km²)
- Residents per sq mi
- 1,259median town 763 · 16th densest of 78
- Median age
- 42.4median town 44.9
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- 26%median town 24.1% · 31st highest of 78
Daily life
What is mapped in Vega Alta today: counts, then per 10,000 residents so a small town and San Juan read on the same scale.
- Schools
- 185.2 per 10k · median town 6.3
- Supermarkets
- 30.9 per 10k · median town 0.7
- Parks
- 185.2 per 10k · median town 4.3
- Restaurants
- 51.4 per 10k · median town 2.4
- Beaches
- 2coastal town
Counts from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): what volunteers have mapped, not an official register. Places our guide recommends in Vega Alta.
Water, power and safety
- Water. Vega Alta 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 Vega Alta are out right now. Outages by town
- Safety. 21.5 reported violent crimes per 10,000 residents in 2025, above most towns of the 78 towns (6 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
Advisory: not suitable for swimming: Balneario Cerro Gordo. Last tested Oct 13.
On DRNA’s beach notice of Oct 16.
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.