Cost of living 2019 in Puerto Rico

Use
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/

All the answers are there

Numbeo is great, I think Priscilla's questions are more detailed to PR.

I would appreciate learning form any locals there input on current prices.

Thai_FX wrote:

Numbeo is great, I think Priscilla's questions are more detailed to PR.

I would appreciate learning form any locals there input on current prices.

Those numbers are for PR.
Ask specific questions and we can provide the info. I must warn you milk is around 6 dollar a gallon, most other prices are similar to US.

Thank you ReyP,

Just starting my research and will post when I have other specific questions.

Yes. The cost of milk really gets my goat!! We live in the dairy district and a gallon of milk is about 6 dollars.   Back in CT, milk is around 2 or 3.  😤😤

Meat and other grocery items about the same as US.     We have a Sam’s and they have lowest prices in the area.   

Don’t know about cost of medical insurance, but I believe medical / dental  services cost less. 

Generally, rent or real estate is less than comparable housing in the states.

Yeah I've never understood why milk is so expensive in PR. There are dairy farms on the island, it's not like milk is being shipped in, so why does it have to be so expensive?

Medical insurance is VASTLY cheaper than in the states. In Arkansas for my family of 4 I pay $1,200 PER MONTH with a $13,000 deductible. It's absurd how much we pay, and for the little benefit we get from it.
'
In PR the insurance runs around $450/month and the coverage is much, much better.

I actually have an insight on the cost of milk
For milk to be proceed it need alots of water and water is very expensive.

Healthcare insurance is a lot cheaper and dental seems to also be cheaper. My wife health plan in US was almost 800, here is 450 and is a better plan.

Ray i am 53 and when i looked for helathcare myself its $288 for the worst plan that triple s has.

Sandra,  I was not aware that a dairy operation required a lot of water for processing? ?

I have been to a couple of dairy farms but guess I don’t know what they do with the milk for processing.

Actually almond milk take 3 time more water then the processing of cows milk

Heres the data
According to Natural News, it takes some 2,000 gallons of water to produce one gallon of Cow Milk, roughly twice as much as that required to produce a gallon of Almond Milk.Sep 8, 2014

Sorry i missed posted the first time about the milk vs alnind milk

sandrarduncan wrote:

Ray i am 53 and when i looked for helathcare myself its $288 for the worst plan that triple s has.

Not sure the point you are making.
I said my wife was paying 800 in US for a lousy plan. Now paying a little over 400 on the best plan Triple S has and she is 59. She is paying a hair more than 1/2 what she was paying before PR and the Triple S plan is a lot better.

You paying 288 I think is cheap, in US it would be higher.

Sorry ray, i was a federal employee.   Maybe i had a better rate then others outside the government.  I had the best health plans for the whole family and it was under $400.  So thats why i think for one person $288 is expensive.  And its really a garbage plan.
Maybe i am spoiled when it comes to healthcare

sandrarduncan wrote:

Sorry ray, i was a federal employee.   Maybe i had a better rate then others outside the government.  I had the best health plans for the whole family and it was under $400.  So thats why i think for one person $288 is expensive.  And its really a garbage plan.
Maybe i am spoiled when it comes to healthcare

As an Employee of a government or private company, you end up pay about 1/2 of the normal rate charged by insurance companies. It could be higher or less than 1/2 depending on the deal they make.

Ray its not really the cost, its what you get for the cost.   Healthcare here isnt great and even a regular drs appointment and you are there for a min of 3 to 4 hrs.   You arent getting your moneys worth paying for insurance.  A drs appointment is 30 to 60 without insurance.   This is just my opinion from my experience here.

I went to the cinema in Plaza las Américas last weekend and spent $8 on the ticket and $11 on my snacks.

I find prices in PR groceries stores and department stores comparable to those what I pay here in NYC.Strangely besides milk also fruits and vegetables I find to be more expensive in PR even thoth the quality seems to be worst.
Restaurants are a little cheaper in PR and just like in the states ,in smaller towns things are little cheaper than in the San Juan area.
Health services are cheaper in PR but strangely the quotes which we got for the health insurance seems to be higher in PR comparable what we pay in NYC(we are still looking)
Things which I find much cheaper in PR are the fees for the basic entertainment ,park entrances,pools, movies etc.Also professional services in PR cost less and in small towns you might find that the cash is a king.

Darius D wrote:

I find prices in PR groceries stores and department stores comparable to those what I pay here in NYC.Strangely besides milk also fruits and vegetables I find to be more expensive in PR even thoth the quality seems to be worst.
Restaurants are a little cheaper in PR and just like in the states ,in smaller towns things are little cheaper than in the San Juan area.
Health services are cheaper in PR but strangely the quotes which we got for the health insurance seems to be higher in PR comparable what we pay in NYC(we are still looking)
Things which I find much cheaper in PR are the fees for the basic entertainment ,park entrances,pools, movies etc.Also professional services in PR cost less and in small towns you might find that the cash is a king.

PR agriculture only produces about 15% of what is needed by the island and on top of that there was a lot of agricultural damage during the storm. This means that most of what is consumed in the island comes in boats and can spend 2 weeks to a month in that ship, making the agricultural products OLD by the time they get to market.

I joke that the tomatoes look like they were rolled down the mountain as a lot of times they have freezer damage or bruces.

Yup, my two pet peeves about PR.   It’s almost impossible to buy a good tomato here (once in a blue moon I get a good one at Kash & Karry) and the cost of milk $4.50 gal.  Which is particularly galling since we are in the heart of the dairy region.  😡.

I read somewhere, here I think, that the milk prices are so high because the water price is high, and milk production requires lots of water. Makes sense to me, though I don't know how accurate it is.

My water bill was very high, as the water company had the account listed as commercial.  Once we got it reclassified as residential  the rate went down significantly.

I have no idea what rate the dairy farmers pay, or even if they get public water out on the farms.   

Hey Rey,  do people out in the countryside drill wells?  Or is municipal water available?   🧐

Sitka wrote:

My water bill was very high, as the water company had the account listed as commercial.  Once we got it reclassified as residential  the rate went down significantly.

I have no idea what rate the dairy farmers pay, or even if they get public water out on the farms.   

Hey Rey,  do people out in the countryside drill wells?  Or is municipal water available?   🧐

Some places have wells, but most people dont. It requires a permit and they are hard to get. Besides who knows how contaminated the ground water is. There is a lot of illigal dumping and sometimes the stuff leaks down into the ground water but that is not always the case.

I pay 25 dollars a month for water and we are not careful with it and I take LONG showers.

Milk prices I heard is 6 a gallon, I never buy that much, I mostly buy a quart a month for visitors coffee.

Labor cost, renting land for grass feeding, maybe water cost, but inefficiencies in the process is probably the major cost. In PR we do a lot of ass backward stuff.