Arecibo vs Mayagüez
Metro-area medians — Arecibo, PR Metro Area vs Mayagüez, PR Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Arecibo and Mayagüez are evenly matched, each taking 3 of the clearly-decided measures.
Arecibo and Mayagüez cost about the same to live in, but Arecibo households earn about 9% more.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
Arecibo, PR
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
No local price index — real value not shown.
Mayagüez, PR
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
No local price index — real value not shown.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
Measure
Arecibo
Mayagüez
Livability (CityLedger)
33/100
32/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
—
—
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
—
—
Median household income
$23,466
$21,554
Median rent
$537/mo
$519/mo
Median home value
$129,500
$133,000
Unemployment
7.6%
9.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher
25.8%
26.6%
Average commute
26.8 min
24.6 min
Air quality (median AQI)
—
11
Avg temperature
76°F
76°F
Choose Arecibo for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Median household income
- + Unemployment
Choose Mayagüez for
- + Median rent
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
- + Average commute
Arecibo vs Mayagüez — frequently asked
- Which has higher household income, Arecibo or Mayagüez?
- Arecibo has the higher median household income — $23,466 versus $21,554 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 9% more.
- Which has cheaper rent, Arecibo or Mayagüez?
- Mayagüez has cheaper rent — a median of $519/mo versus $537/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).