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Old San Juan Street

People and Population

The last US census estimate, from 2026, showed 3,231,071 people that inhabit the island of Puerto Rico make it one of the most densely populated islands in the world. There are about 941 people per square mile (363 per km2), a ratio higher than within any of the 50 states in the United States.

Puerto Ricans at Old San Juan

Puerto Rico has experienced a steady population decline over the past decade. Between 2010 and 2020, the island's population decreased by approximately 11.8 percent. This downward trend continued from 2020 to 2021, with an additional decline of about 1.1 percent. More recently, U.S. Census Bureau estimates indicate the population fell by roughly 0.6 percent between July 2024 and July 2025, reflecting an ongoing pattern of gradual population decrease in recent years.

The government stated that more than 800,000 people have left the island in the past two decades. The majority are settling in U.S. states including New York and Florida.

Historically, the number of Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland has grown significantly. In 2012, an estimated 4.9 million Puerto Ricans were living in the mainland United States, more than on the island at the time. Today, that trend continues - about 6.1 million Puerto Ricans now live in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, making them one of the largest Hispanic origin groups in the mainland U.S. and outnumbering Puerto Rico's island population of around 3.2 million in 2026. This means far more Puerto Ricans reside in the continental U.S. than on the island itself, with major communities in Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and beyond.

On the island, roughly one-third of the population lives in the San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas metropolitan area, the most populous region of Puerto Rico. San Juan is the largest city and capital, with the municipio itself housing around 342,259 residents as of the 2020 U.S. Census, while the broader metro area has over 2 million people. Bayamon remains the second most populated municipio, with about 185,187 people recorded in 2020. Other major cities include Carolina (estimated over 150,000), Ponce (around 137,000), and Caguas (about 127,000).

Puerto Rico Population Snapshot

3.2M

Total Population

903

People per sq mi

44.9

Mediam Age

2.73

Avg Household Size

What is the Puerto Rican population of the World?

Based on 2024-2025 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and Pew Research Center, the total Puerto Rican population worldwide is estimated at over 9 million people. Approximately 6.1 million Puerto Ricans live on the U.S. mainland, while about 3.0-.2 million reside on the island of Puerto Rico.

The largest Puerto Rican communities in the United States are found in Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Texas, California, Illinois, and Ohio. These population shifts reflect decades of migration driven by economic opportunity, education, military service, and family ties-creating a strong and influential Puerto Rican diaspora that remains deeply connected to the island.

Puerto Ricans make up one of the largest Hispanic-origin groups in the United States.


Race and Ethnic Groups

The people of Puerto Rico represent a cultural and racial mix because of centuries of immigration and cultural assimilation. When the Spanish forced the Taíno people into slavery, the entire indigenous population was virtually decimated, except for a few Amerindians who escaped into the remote mountains. Eventually they inter-married with the poor Spanish farmers and became known as jíbaros. Because of industrialization and migration to the cities, few jíbaros remain.

Interesting Fact
Puerto Ricans are known for their warm hospitality, often considered very friendly and expressive to strangers. Greetings are often cordial and genuine. When people are first introduced, a handshake is usual, however, close friends and family members always greet you hello or goodbye with a kiss on the cheek or a combination hug and kiss. This happens between female friends and between men and women, but not between male friends.

Puerto Ricans are best known by speaking using lively hand and facial gestures, as hand and body language are important forms of communication.

Besides the slaves imported from Africa (Sudan, Kongo, Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leona, and the Gold, Ivory, and Grain coasts), other ethnic groups brought to work on the plantations joined the island's racial mix. Fleeing Simón Bolívar's independence movements in South America, Spanish loyalists fled to Puerto Rico - a fiercely conservative Spanish colony during the early 1800s. French families also flocked here from both Louisiana and Haiti. As changing governments or violent revolutions depressed the economies of Scotland and Ireland, many farmers from those countries also journeyed to Puerto Rico in search of a better life.

When the United States acquired the island in 1898, American influence was added to culture.

During the mid-19th century, labor was needed to build roads, initially, Chinese workers were imported for this task, followed by workers from such countries as Italy, France, Germany, and even Lebanon. American expatriates came to the island after 1898. Long after Spain had lost control of Puerto Rico, Spanish immigrants continued to arrive on the island. The most significant new immigrant population arrived in the 1960s, when thousands of Cubans fled from Fidel Castro's Communist state. The latest arrivals to Puerto Rico have come from the economically depressed Dominican Republic.

The new and the old merged, where two worlds and many culture fused, creating an island of sharp contrasts. Today, this mix of culture can be perceived in the island's architecture, which mixes Spanish colonial with ultra-modern, shown on the abundance of North American-style malls and fast-food restaurants that compete with small, family-run stores and restaurants.

Nationality: Puerto Rican

Noun
: a person born, raised, or living in Puerto Rico
: a person whose family is descended from the island of Puerto Rico
: any item deriving it's origin from the island of Puerto Rico
: any item relating to the people of Puerto Rico/Puerto Ricans

Interesting Facts

Criollo (creole) is a word used today by Puerto Ricans to describe things native to the island, such as: music, cuisine, language, arts, people, religion, and other aspects of the island culture.

It is known that Puerto Rican descendants call themselves Puerto Ricans. "I am Puerto Rican, but I wasn't born there."

The term "Nuyorican" is used to identify New Yorkers born in Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent who live in or near New York City. The word Nuyorican derives from a combination of the words "New York" and "Puerto Rican."

Puerto Rico is a territory (Commonwealth) of the United States of America and Puerto Ricans have common citizenship, currency and defense. Although Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, residents of Puerto Rico pay no federal income tax, nor can they vote in presidential elections. As citizens, Puerto Ricans do not require a work visa (also known as green cards) to live and/or work in the United States.

Puerto Ricans consider themselves American but are fiercely proud of their island and their culture. They don't usually call themselves Americans or "Americanos", but "Puertorriqueños" or "Boricuas." To most Puerto Ricans, "my country" means "Puerto Rico", not the United States. Boricua, derived from the Taíno word Boriken is used to affirm Puerto Ricans devotion to the island's Taíno heritage. The word Boriken translates to "the great land of the valiant and noble Lord". Borikén was the original name used by the Taíno population before the arrival of the Spanish.


Definitions
Hispanic - relating to, or being a person of Latin American descent; especially: Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
Latin - relating to the peoples or countries using Romance languages; specifically: of or relating to the peoples or countries of Latin America.

Race and Ethnicity (2020 U.S. Census)

White alone 61.6%
Black alone 12.4%
Hispanic 18.7%
Asian alone 6%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone 1.1%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone 0.2%
Some Other Race alone 8.4%; Two or More Races 10.2%

Vital Statistics

Population

3,231,071 (2026 est.)
3,019,450 (2024 est.)
3,057,311 (2023 est.)
3,098,423 (2022 est.)
3,285,874 (2020 U.S. Census)
3,189,068 (July 2020 est.)
3,725,789 (2010 U.S. Census)

Summary: 1980 to 2006 (PDF) (projections (PDF))

Population Density: 941 density per sq mi/363 persons per sq km (2026 est.)

Puerto Rico's population density is among the world's highest - only Bangladesh, The Maldives, Barbados, Taiwan, South Korea and the city-states of Hong Kong and Singapore are more crowded. Puerto Rico population is equivalent to 0.05% of the total world population.

Population Split: Urban 93.7%; Rural 6.3% (2024 est.)

Country Population Rank: 135th (2026 est.)

U.S. Population Rank: 33rd (2026 est.)

% of World Pop: 0.04% (2020)

Interesting Fact

The Census Bureau publishes estimates of total population and demographic components of change (births, deaths, and migration) for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its 78 municipios (municipalities). A municipio is the government unit that is the primary legal subdivision of Puerto Rico; the Census Bureau treats the municipio as the statistical equivalent of a county.

Population Growth Rate: -1.2% (2024 est.)
-1.29% (2023 est.)

Population Doubling Time: 88 years (2002)

Puerto Rico's population growth dynamics have shifted dramatically since the early 2000s:

Primary Ethnicity: Hispanic

Ethnic Composition:
White (Hispanic) (42.7%), Other (Hispanic) (23.9%), Two+ (Hispanic) (23.2%), Black or African American (Hispanic) (8.63%), and White (Non-Hispanic) (0.831%) (2022 est.)
The racial composition of Puerto Rico's population has not changed significantly. The first census by the United States in 1899 reported a population of 953,243 inhabitants, 61.8% of them classified as white, 31.9% as mixed, and 6.3% as black.

Migration:

According to the 2021 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates, approximately 5.8 million people of Puerto Rican origin live in the United States (in the 50 states and Washington, D.C.), far exceeding the number reported in the 1990 Census (2.7 million) - and significantly larger than the island's current resident population.

Net Migration Rate: -9.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
10.76 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Urbanization:
urban population: 93.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: -0.12% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Age Structure:
0-14 years: 12.5% (male 191,649/female 184,597)
15-64 years: 62.6% (male 904,406/female 986,778)
65 years and over: 24.9% (male 322,698/female 429,322) (2024 est.)
Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 57.1
youth dependency ratio: 21.0
elderly dependency ratio: 35.5
potential support ratio: 2.9 (2024 est.)
Median Age:
total: 46.1 years (2024 est.)
male: 44.2 years
female: 47.8 years
Sex Ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.89 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

Marriage Rate: 5.1 per 1000 persons (2025 est.)

Divorce Rate: 4.47 per 1000 persons (2025 est.)

Housing

Owner-occupied housing unit rate, 2019-2023: 68.1%

Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2019-2023: $124,600

Median selected monthly owner costs -with a mortgage, 2019-2023: $882

Median selected monthly owner costs -without a mortgage, 2019-2023: $179

Median gross rent, 2019-2023: $568

Families & Living Arrangements

Households, 2019-2023: 1,239,243

Persons per household, 2019-2023: 2.60

Living in same house 1 year ago, percent of persons age 1 year+, 2019-2023: 93.8%

Language other than English spoken at home, percent of persons age 5 years+, 2019-2023: 95.5%

Family Average Size: 2019-2023: 3.07 people

Health

Birth Rate: 6.9 births per 1,000 population (2025 est.)
7.8 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Death Rate: 10.2 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
10 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Major causes of death per 100,000 population: (2023-24)
Heart disease (leading)
Cancer (second)
Alzheimers disease
Various chronic diseases including diabetes and chronic respiratory disease
Unintentional injuries also among major causes of death.

Currently married women (ages 15-49):
37.4% (2023 est.)

Contraceptive Use: 82.8% (2019-2020)

Maternal Mortality Rate: 34 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
21 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate:
total: 5.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
male: 6.4 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.2 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at Birth:
total population: 82.1 years (2024 est.)
male: 78.9 years
female: 85.5 years

Total Fertility Rate: 1.26 children born/woman (2024 est.)
1.25 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Gross reproduction rate: 0.61 (2024 est.)
0.61 (2023 est.)

Drinking water source:

improved: total: 100% of population
unimproved: total: 0% of population (2020 est.)

Physicians density:
3.06 physicians/1,000 population (2018)

Sanitation facility access:

improved: total: 97.2% of population
unimproved: total: 2.8% of population (2017 est.)

Population with a disability, under age 65 years, percent, 2012-2016: 15.3%

Persons without health insurance, under age 65 years: 7.4%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 18,422, 68% men, 32% women (2012)
Puerto Rico ranked among the top 10 U.S. states or territories with the highest number of total AIDS cases among residents at the end of 2004.


Other Resources




Did You Know?

Puerto Rico is a very diverse region, with a mountain range, coastal plains, a desert and a rainforest.