Cost of living in Puerto Rico - 2017

Hello; My monthly bills are as follows:

Don’t hesitate to let us know if the cost of living in Puerto Rico has decreased or increased in the past few years.

Thanks to your help, would-be expatriates will have the opportunity to refine and better prepare their expatriation project.

> How much does it cost to rent an apartment/house in Puerto Rico?
I'm renting a 4Br, 3Ba home, fully fenced, on 1+ acres of flat land. $700/mo.

> How much do you pay for your public transport tickets (bus, subway, train, tram)?
No bus/train/public transport to report.

> Staple food: what do people eat and how much do they pay for basic food like bread, rice or pasta?
I buy organic bread from Sam's about $4/loaf

>What is your monthly grocery budget?
Monthly, we spend about $325 for food, for a family of 4.


> What is your children's schooling monthly budget?
My kids go to public school, as they are bilingual.

> How much does it cost to fill up your car’s fuel tank?
$28-ish to fill up the tank, gas fluctuates, yesterday I saw many prices @ 61-63.7 cents/liter

>How much do you pay for electricity/gas/water etc.?
Gas (Propane/$15/20lb tank, Electric, roughly $78/month, Water is about $35-43, depending on usage

> How much do you pay for your Internet/phone subscription?
Internet, $69/mo Cellular, $220/mo (3 lines truly unlimited)

> How much do you pay for your lunch pack on weekdays?
part of our food budget, above.

> How much do you pay for an espresso coffee?
$10/2lbs coffee, we make at home.

> How much do you pay for a cinema ticket?
Movie tix are about $5.50 each (adult; children are $4.50)

> How much does a gym membership cost in Puerto Rico?
went to a gym website, filled out their questionaire, and never heard from them... so I bought a HIIT machine!

Wow Mac, it is hard to believe that your food bill is so small and also your electric bill. How does it compares to the same bills in the states?
I assume you don't use the air conditioner much.
If Your food or electric is lower in PR, what do you attribute it to?

Yes, I'm quite surprised at the food bill, too.

Well, with 1 acre land, he can be growing some of his own food. You can have plenty of fruits and vegetables on your own garden to supplement. Not a hard thing to do.

True, I hadn't even thought of that.  I would love to have fruit trees

adlin20 wrote:

Well, with 1 acre land, he can be growing some of his own food. You can have plenty of fruits and vegetables on your own garden to supplement. Not a hard thing to do.

People have all sorts of customs and eating habits, I believe Mac wife is Puerto Rican so she probably is good at stretching a dollar. Still..... such a low food bill and such a low electric bill for a family of 4 is quite an accomplishment. I hope Mac come online and teaches us some of his tricks.

I believe his electric bill, our fluctuate between $45-65/mo. That is with the ac on at nights and with both of us working on our computers most of the day. All our lighting is led and high ratings appliances. We have a security system on 24/7, radio on, if I want to take a nap I turn the ac on and in the hottest days the ac in the office is on all day. I am not sure why, but electric is less away from the cities. My sister in law pays about the same and she is a family of 4 as well.

I asked my ex-wife in PR and her electric is around 150 a month in Trujillo Alto and is 3 of them.  Weird how the bills can fluctuate so much from home to home.

I buy bulk from the Buchanan Commissary

We have not used our AC in many months, it's been windy & cool.

Honestly, we do not spend much time indoors.

That explains it, it is winter time in PR, not using the air conditioner and buying from military commissary would keep the bills down.
Thanks

I have a hard time understanding $45-$65 electric bills for houses where A/C is being used.

We don't have A/C and our bill is just under $100. I've been here for 15 years, lived in a couple different places and always paid between $90 and $120.

We use around 450 kWh/month for a couple of computers, some fans, fridge, small chest freezer and light. We have an electric water heater and switch it on once per day for 15, 20 minutes before we take a shower. We cook on propane  and use the electric oven once, twice per month.

The price per kWh came down a little compared with half a year ago. We pay now  21.8 ct/kWh.

I have two side by side refridgerators, two computers (energy star laptops), energy star TVs (2), 4 tablets, wifi, fans in every room, (ceiling fans too, although they are rarely used), I use a slow cooker every other day (boiling bone broth, to supplement dry food for my 5 dogs), we cook with gas, but use a very large countertop oven, and microwave.

In our previous location, we paid almost the same, even though the place was much smaller... the electric was outdated, and was leeching power.

Just shopped at the base, thick porkchops, 1.25" thick; $1.68/lb. 93% lean ground beef; $3.24/lb, gluten free wheat pasta, 16oz;$ .99 Newman's Organic pasta sauce; $1.67/24oz... things are cheap, compaired to the rest if the island. I cannot remember all the prices, but I thought the full cart would be about $300, it was $183!

Very good prices for food. With all of that and your bill for electric is small still, way to go!!!
I hope I can match your bills one day.

My estimated budget (for 2) are:
Electric: 200
Water: 70
Propane: big tank $100 but estimating at 5 months of use so $20 a month
Internet: 90
Cell phones: 100
Groceries: 500
Gas: 120

If I can match your bills Mac, I will be really happy.

I think my gasoline usage may be higher... but my car gets about 31+ mpg, average (city/highway/mountain) driving. I can generally save 3-5 cents per liter, buying on base.

This is an interesting post with seeing what everyones monthly expenses are on the island. I live in NYC (family of 4) and we pay monthly:

$1,700 rent 2 bedroom apartment w/ electric & gas included
$   170 cable/internet
$   120 cell (for 2 lines)
$    200 gasoline
$    800 groceries ($170-200 a week)

If things work out with us coming into some money we are PR bound and planning on buying a modest home. We travel there often so it's a matter on agreeing where to lay down roots for our family with 2 young boys (2 & 4 years old). Good to see the guidelines on what we may anticipate in terms of expenses in PR.

Thanks to all about the information given .....i just started my search about Puerto Rico...most probably moving to el Dorado area because the job....

I have to decide in the next week about moving there..... could be very helpful to have some information( in order to have a clearer idea of which decision to be taken) about some topic:

-car cost:   monthly rental or leasing

-International bilingual school:   around dorado area ( as far as I have been seeing  it looks to be  around 8000-11000 $ per year)

-house cost:  aprox price for 3-4 bedrom house Dorado area

-housekeeping-maid cost:  (both working long hours)

-groceries: as being mentioned here around 350-600 $ monthly

-energetic bills ( gas-electricity-water):  as being mentioned  here  I have estimated around 150-300 $ monthly

-health insurance: most probably provided by company


for last and taking advantage of the good willing of the good people around here:

- which salary would you consider worthy to move to Puerto Rico?...I should need to negotiate very soon and better to have number

Thanks in advance!!!

ravenmickey wrote:

This is an interesting post with seeing what everyones monthly expenses are on the island. I live in NYC (family of 4) and we pay monthly:

$1,700 rent 2 bedroom apartment w/ electric & gas included
$   170 cable/internet
$   120 cell (for 2 lines)
$    200 gasoline
$    800 groceries ($170-200 a week)

If things work out with us coming into some money we are PR bound and planning on buying a modest home. We travel there often so it's a matter on agreeing where to lay down roots for our family with 2 young boys (2 & 4 years old). Good to see the guidelines on what we may anticipate in terms of expenses in PR.

A 3 bedroom condo outside of metro area will run you around 110k, and can be rented for 700 a month. Some places you can get it for 90. You are going to need 3 bedrooms. A house would be nicer but that means yard work and with your business you may not have the time.

I would hold off on a storefront for a few months and study the traffic first, you want to be where there is foot traffic, parking and reasonable rent, so that needs a bit of studying.

Your grocery bill sounds a bit high, watch what you buy, check with your PR family and how they save, but I would say 500-600 to be about right. Cable is about right if you have an expensive package with hundred of channels. I have Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix and for local channels I use an antenna plus Internet access. I do not use a regular tv bundle package, I did for years but I was wasting money since I do not have time to watch TV.

Good luck, ask away.

maxdelman wrote:

Thanks to all about the information given .....i just started my search about Puerto Rico...most probably moving to el Dorado area because the job....

Dorado is rather expensive, I would consider living a town away in any direction which means low driving.

maxdelman wrote:

I have to decide in the next week about moving there..... could be very helpful to have some information( in order to have a clearer idea of which decision to be taken) about some topic:
Thanks in advance!!!

"car cost:   monthly rental or leasing" - Not sure what your situation is but I would suggest buying an old car, you can always upgrade later. New cars are expensive in the island, you need to make sure you are going to be here for good first. Monthly rental would be large cost.

"International bilingual school:   around dorado area ( as far as I have been seeing  it looks to be  around 8000-11000 $ per year)" - Ill leave an answer to those with kids, but you are probably looking at 8-9k in my not so educated opinion.

"house cost:  aprox price for 3-4 bedrom house Dorado area" - I would say in Dorado good area you are looking at around 400K. Based on your other questions I am assuming an affluent place is what you are looking for and not a modest house.

housekeeping-maid cost:  (both working long hours) Hard to say, if you go thru an agency it will cost you a bit, a local lady will probably be $50 for 2-3 hours once a week.

"groceries: as being mentioned here around 350-600 $ monthly" If you are busy tyou are going to cook less and most of your cost will go to take out. Your food bill depends on what you buy and the quality of what you buy it could be 300-600 or 1200.

-energetic bills ( gas-electricity-water):  as being mentioned  here  I have estimated around 150-300 $ monthly Most of the money will go to electricity, look at your current electric bill during a hot summer month in the states and double it. If using gas for cooking a tall tank refill will cost you around 100 and will last you around 6 months. If you leave lights on and run the air conditioner all the time your bill can be much higher. An electric stove / oven can increase your electric bill also.

-health insurance: most probably provided by company  Check with your employer.

which salary would you consider worthy to move to Puerto Rico?...I should need to negotiate very soon and better to have number I may be getting the wrong impression but based on what I am seeing from your note, you are going to need a bare minimum of 60K for each of the two of you (120k). If you were a native you would have different needs and I would have answered about 60k between the two of you. Most working native lives with around 30K family budget, but they live differently than you are used to.

You seem to be in a rush and you have not done a lot of investigation yet. Rent a place for at least a year, buy an inexpensive old car, see how you like PR. If it works for you then go ahead and buy a nice house. Rush is bad for you.

I have been told that in PR there is no sales tax on used cars - is that true??

Here are some numbers to start most people budget, you can get away with less (middle of the road numbers). Items that are payed yearly have been divided by 12 to fit the monthly scenario:

Category                                  Monthly Expense
Car Payment                                  $350.00
Car Insurance                          $45
Entertainment                          $150.00 - $600.00 highly dependent on you
Groceries                                  $400 - $800
Mortgage/ Rental                       $700 or zero if you purchased property cash - most natives buy around 120k home, and they end up with around $500 monthly in Mortgage. You can find some nice rentals for $400-$500 if away from metro. Rentals run 600-900 in metro, $2,000 - $4,000 a month in luxury areas.
Property Tax                               $60.00 depends on home value
Home Insurance                          $45 will depend on home value
Medical                                          Depends on your age and plan, count on 200 to 600 per person, the younger the less you pay. Once you reach medicare age you are looking at around 200 again. actual interventions by a doctor run 40% less than in the states and some people do not have medical they just pay cash.
Pharmacy                                  $50.00 - again it depends on your medical plan and your health
Electricity                                  $200 - could be in range of 90-500 depending on your use. Take number from worst summer bill in the states and double it, that is likely right for you. If you live in Hawaii use same number for PR.
Water                                          $50.00 - could be more depends on your use
Propane                                          $20.00 (assumptions: 1 tall tank every 6 months)
Gasoline                                  $120.00 - $200.00
Cable/Internet                          $120.00    (Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix and basic Internet)
Cell Phone                                  $120.00 - (2 cell phones, varies depending on plan used)

Hope this helps you get started, if you are a native you can cut some of the numbers way down because you know where to shop and when to shop and you don't need air conditioner as much.

Remember these are middle of the road ball park numbers, the more you go out the more gasoline you use, the higher your entertainment, the lower your grocery bill. If you like Organic, double your grocery bill.
Rey

Sitka wrote:

I have been told that in PR there is no sales tax on used cars - is that true??

I believe that is correct, no IVU on vehicles or RealState.

Hi Rey,

Thanks for sharing your wealth of information. We would definetly be getting a 3 bedroom house when we live in PR. In NYC people tend to cram in tighter spaces which we are fortunate with our boys being 2 & 4 so it's worked for us. We also live on the first floor of a house with a fenced in yard which has given us exposure for the 1st time in our lives of yard work. I am proud to say I now know how to use a lawnmower and weed wacker!😋

Living in NYC many things are high including the crime although that's gotten better. Our groceries include diapers/pulls up which we buy in bulk. I believe that is what makes our grocery bill higher than usual.

As for store rental, I am in the fortunate position that all my sales are generated online. I agree it is not smart to rush into purchasing a "brick and mortar" store until we've done more research. It is something we plan on doing but will not be rishing into.

Would you or anyone else reading this have any suggestions for reputable car dealerships in northern PR? In all the years Ive gone to PR I don't recall ever seeing any although they obviously exists in PR.

I bought a used car from an individual, it was on the side of the road with se vende sign on it.   

Check the classified ads on line, lots of car dealers along hwy 2 in Hatillo/Arecibo if you want shop the lots.

ravenmickey wrote:

Hi Rey,

Thanks for sharing your wealth of information. We would definetly be getting a 3 bedroom house when we live in PR. In NYC people tend to cram in tighter spaces which we are fortunate with our boys being 2 & 4 so it's worked for us. We also live on the first floor of a house with a fenced in yard which has given us exposure for the 1st time in our lives of yard work. I am proud to say I now know how to use a lawnmower and weed wacker!😋

Living in NYC many things are high including the crime although that's gotten better. Our groceries include diapers/pulls up which we buy in bulk. I believe that is what makes our grocery bill higher than usual.

As for store rental, I am in the fortunate position that all my sales are generated online. I agree it is not smart to rush into purchasing a "brick and mortar" store until we've done more research. It is something we plan on doing but will not be rishing into.

Would you or anyone else reading this have any suggestions for reputable car dealerships in northern PR? In all the years Ive gone to PR I don't recall ever seeing any although they obviously exists in PR.

If you have family in the island talk to them about car dealers and mechanics. They can also tell you when the supermarkets load up the meat department with specials. You may want to rent for a few months before you purchase to make sure you can get the best deal on a place to buy, the crime in the area and the schools where to send your children. Make sure you use as much Spanish as you can with the kids, they can learn English from friends and TV.

Yes continue online business until you are sure of a location for the Brick and Mortar if you ever decide on that. mean time just continue to grow online business, maybe later expand with advertising to other countries. Continue low overhead, dominate one market at a time, don't over extend your self.

LOL on lawnmower and weedwacker. Most people hold parties in the car port, keeps the house clean this way.

PS. It is cheaper to buy than to build your own place! either way make sure you have good Internet service where you buy and have a good data plan for your phone since your business depends on the Internet and you can use the phone as a wifi spot in an emergency.

Sitka, thanks. I may be moving in that vicinity so your info was very helpful.

Hi Rey, that was a very important point to state (make sure I have good wifi) because my business is all online sales. I never even considered to make sure where we (hopefully God willing) move had good wifi but this is very important due to the nature of my business.

It is funny that you mention functions in the car port because that is something I was used to seeing. You brought back many good memories bringing that up. Never realized though my family was having it there for those reasons but it certainly makes sense!

Hi Rey, that was a very important point to state (make sure I have good wifi) because my business is all online sales. I never even considered to make sure where we (hopefully God willing) move had good wifi but this is very important due to the nature of my business.

It is funny that you mention functions in the car port because that is something I was used to seeing. You brought back many good memories bringing that up. Never realized though my family was having it there for those reasons but it certainly makes sense!

We aren't planning on renting in PR because we are fortunate enough to have a landlord that will work with us until our closing goes through to move. It makes more sense for us to buy once we agree on where to live. Im a northwest woman and my husband is a northeast man. He is leaning more towards my way though seeing I know the areas much better than he knows his.

4 main reasons to hold activities in the car port:
1) cooler than in the house
2) keeps house neat
3) fits more people
4) you can keep the neighbors awake with the loud music

Hello there! 

Really appreciated your feedback it helps a lot!!!

I would say i will be at PR around 2 years  (not golden rule but let says 2-3 years is the average for every movement).

Regarding the housing:
I  will go for renting so you mean for a 400K house  in dorado...should be around 2000-3000 $ monthly renting?
i assume as you said leaving out of dorado would be cheaper....any recommendation in particular?

regarding the car:
I guess solution should be renting a car first month and start looking right away for a second hand cars
as you mentioned ( but meaning a kind of  investment  .....just wondering which   car suit better in PR  a sedan type or SUV and  average price for 3-4 yeasrs old car)

I hope you forgive me about  abusing of your time and local wisdom!

As you mentioned previously  rush is not a good travel company....thanks again for your time, really appreciated.

maxdelman wrote:

Hello there! 

Really appreciated your feedback it helps a lot!!!

I would say i will be at PR around 2 years  (not golden rule but let says 2-3 years is the average for every movement).

Regarding the housing:
I  will go for renting so you mean for a 400K house  in dorado...should be around 2000-3000 $ monthly renting?
i assume as you said leaving out of dorado would be cheaper....any recommendation in particular?

regarding the car:
I guess solution should be renting a car first month and start looking right away for a second hand cars
as you mentioned ( but meaning a kind of  investment  .....just wondering which   car suit better in PR  a sedan type or SUV and  average price for 3-4 yeasrs old car)

I hope you forgive me about  abusing of your time and local wisdom!

As you mentioned previously  rush is not a good travel company....thanks again for your time, really appreciated.

Take a look at these links:
I would recumbent Vega Alta as cheaper. Take a look at this site, it has a map of every town and information about each that will give you some idea. http://welcome.topuertorico.org/exploring.shtml

A SUV is the best all around vehicle in PR, sedans are fine too but SUV is best all around choice. Cost is all over the place check: http://www.clasificadosonline.com/Transportation.asp for an idea of cost. Cars are expensive, for a 2 year stay I would suggest a nice rust bucket. People keep cars running because they are too expensive, a 12 year old car is very common. Think about that since in 2 years you need to sell it or junk it.

As to rent, here some Dorado 3br apartments: http://www.clasificadosonline.com/UDRen … -+Busqueda

Vega Alta 3br apartments: http://www.clasificadosonline.com/UDRen … -+Busqueda

Personally I would scroll down and look for something around 7-9 hundreds, why waste money??? Here is a good example in Vega Alta: http://www.clasificadosonline.com/UDRen … ID=1303801

A lot of apartments have swimming pools and in Dorado or Vega Alta you are 5-15 minutes from the beach by car.

A house is typically cheaper but no pool usually. See samples: http://www.clasificadosonline.com/UDRen … -+Busqueda

You have not mentioned a pet, I hope you don't have one, some places do not accept animals and if you travel it does not make sense to have one any way.

**** Warning: In PR most rentals are just the walls, no stove, no refrigerator, and no furniture, some have stove and refrigerators, very few have furniture. You need to have a budget for that, you may want to rent or get used stuff since you will be only 2 years in the island.

Obviously if the company pays for your move then take the furniture with you from the states, it is their money not yours. Cars have to pay a very stiff import tax that could easily be 3-5K and would be wasted since in 2 years you are going to leave. Transport for the car will be around 1.3k if delivered to the port, more if somebody has to drive it to the port.

Ravenmickey,
I would suggest finiding out the internet performance in the neighborhood you are considering. We lived in Bayamón, and the only authorized provider was Liberty. Based on our experience, I'd be hesitant to rely on Liberty's performance for work, school, etc. It can vary neighborhood by neighborhood so try and talk to your would-be neighbors. Also have a back-up. Our internet would go out 3-4 times per week for several hours each time - you can read some of my previous posts about our experiences. The first time they connected our internet, I think I may have gotten hand-me-down hardware. I replaced the coax cable and splitter and it was a bit better, but everyone in our neighborhood had regular outages. Hope this helps!!

Sitka wrote:

I have been told that in PR there is no sales tax on used cars - is that true??

True. You don't pay sales tax when transferring a use car on your name.

Thanks again ReyP for the info!

Priscilla wrote:

Hello,

Before moving to Puerto Rico, it is important to investigate the cost of living in the country.

As we did in 2015, we give you the opportunity to share your experience and tell us more about products and services average recorded prices in your town/city/area.

Dont hesitate to let us know if the cost of living in Puerto Rico has decreased or increased in the past few years.

Thanks to your help, would-be expatriates will have the opportunity to refine and better prepare their expatriation project.

> How much does it cost to rent an apartment/house in Puerto Rico? 

> How much do you pay for your public transport tickets (bus, subway, train, tram)?

> Staple food: what do people eat and how much do they pay for basic food like bread, rice or pasta?

>What is your monthly grocery budget?

> How much does it cost to see a physician/doctor/specialist in Puerto Rico ? 

> What is your children's schooling monthly budget?

> How much does it cost to fill up your cars fuel tank?

> How much do you pay for electricity/gas/water etc.?

> How much do you pay for your Internet/phone subscription?

> How much do you pay for your lunch pack on weekdays?

> How much do you pay for an espresso coffee?

> How much do you pay for a cinema ticket?

> How much does a gym membership cost in Puerto Rico? 

Thank you everyone!

Priscilla

10 years later...Yes the cost of living has gone up about 90%.

*How much does it cost to rent an apartment/house in Puerto Rico? Here it increased a lil. For example you could get a 3 bedroom with amenities for about  $600-$1,000 in an average place ( when I say average is a good neighborhood).

> How much do you pay for your public transport tickets (bus, subway, train, tram)?
Don't use this service but is fair.

> Staple food: what do people eat and how much do they pay for basic food like bread, rice or pasta? Costco and Sam offer awesome prices for organic vegetables, fruits, food etc. I buy there. Dairy is expensive= 1 gallon of milk $5.35 & 1/2 gallon $3.08, bread is not like Jersey where I could get for a loaf of bread for $1.00  ($2.50 on sale) on the local supermarket. Pasta & Rice normally for $1.00. Meat we have local meat and USA to choose from.


>What is your monthly grocery budget?
Monthly, we spend about $600 for food, for a family of 4.


> What is your children's schooling monthly budget? I homeschool my kids. $400 yr.

> How much does it cost to fill up your car’s fuel tank? $25 dollars.

>How much do you pay for electricity/gas/water? Electric bill without AC $80 a month with AC on for about 8 hrs $160. Water is about $60 on average.

> How much do you pay for your Internet/phone subscription?
Internet, $40 with 4 gb and telephone unlimited local with Claro and cell Phone $40 everything unlimited H20(At&t).

> How much do you pay for your lunch pack on weekdays? Same as above

> How much do you pay for an espresso coffee?
I buy a 3 pound coffee for $20 available in Costco.

> How much do you pay for a cinema ticket? Super cheap!
Movie ticket  are about $5.50 each (adult; children are $4.50) and on Wednesday women's pay as child. (Ask before).

> How much does a gym membership cost in Puerto Rico? We have crossfit for about $70-$125, the average gym. $25-$45 and we also have planet fitness for $10-$20.


Taxes when up, 11.05% now...that hurts!!

Clothing is more expensive here. You don't get those awesome clearence deals like in the states. For example in Jersey when it says clearence is CLEARENCE. 75 cents, deals.....
Here in PR clearence is a few dollars off.

>How much do you pay for electricity/gas/water? Electric bill without AC $80 a month with AC on for about 8 hrs $160. Water is about $60 on average.

Wow - that's quite reasonable!  When we lived in an apartment in OSJ, we ran AC only at night and only in one bedroom (set at 78).  Our electric bill was $350-400/month.

trekrider520 wrote:

Ravenmickey,
I would suggest finiding out the internet performance in the neighborhood you are considering. We lived in Bayamón, and the only authorized provider was Liberty. Based on our experience, I'd be hesitant to rely on Liberty's performance for work, school, etc. It can vary neighborhood by neighborhood so try and talk to your would-be neighbors. Also have a back-up. Our internet would go out 3-4 times per week for several hours each time - you can read some of my previous posts about our experiences. The first time they connected our internet, I think I may have gotten hand-me-down hardware. I replaced the coax cable and splitter and it was a bit better, but everyone in our neighborhood had regular outages. Hope this helps!!

Hi Trekrider520, this helps immensely! Crazy thing is that I have issues with my internet connection now here in NYC. I'm constantly having to reset my modem. It's common to be notified of any incoming business notifications an hour even a few hours later if I don't realize the internet has went out. Thanks so much for your helpful advice!