Arecibo, PR

Across all occupations in the Arecibo, PR metropolitan area, the median wage is $26,120 a year ($12.56 an hour) and the mean $34,630, May 2025. That median is −49% against the US median of $50,980 and −9% against Puerto Rico's $28,680. BLS counts 34,720 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is industrial production managers; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Arecibo, PR vs Puerto Rico and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Arecibo, PR area, Puerto Rico and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Arecibo, PR	Hourly	$10.50	$10.68	$12.56	$17.85	$28.55	$16.65	34,720
Arecibo, PR	Annual	$21,840	$22,210	$26,120	$37,140	$59,390	$34,630	34,720
Puerto Rico	Hourly	$10.50	$10.81	$13.79	$21.20	$30.97	$18.68	938,710
Puerto Rico	Annual	$21,840	$22,490	$28,680	$44,090	$64,420	$38,840	938,710
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

152 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Arecibo, PR

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Industrial Production Managers	$124,020	$59.62	50
2	Pharmacists	$105,880	$50.90	130
3	Family Medicine Physicians	$101,580	$48.84	50
4	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	$100,150	*	40
5	School Psychologists	$97,210	$46.74	40
6	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$96,310	$46.30	50
7	Chief Executives	$86,270	$41.48	70
8	Medical and Health Services Managers	$83,050	$39.93	50
9	Industrial Engineers	$82,930	$39.87	100
10	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary	$80,130	*	60
11	Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary	$79,210	*	30
12	Lawyers	$77,470	$37.25	**
13	Financial Managers	$75,140	$36.12	100
14	Sales Managers	$72,860	$35.03	50
15	Education Administrators, Postsecondary	$68,650	$33.00	40
16	Coaches and Scouts	$65,870	*	50
17	Administrative Services Managers	$64,070	$30.80	90
18	Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	$62,240	*	160
19	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education	$61,230	*	360
20	Management Analysts	$61,100	$29.38	40

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Arecibo, PR

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons	2,260	64.95	2.59	$22,390
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers	1,440	41.46	1.67	$21,840
3	Cashiers	1,360	39.26	1.98	$22,440
4	Sewing Machine Operators	1,010	29.10	43.14	$22,550
5	Registered Nurses	870	25.10	1.15	$37,460
6	Stockers and Order Fillers	810	23.22	1.27	$24,690
7	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	760	22.03	1.55	$22,490
7	Office Clerks, General	760	21.96	1.39	$23,090
9	Customer Service Representatives	750	21.50	1.29	$27,030
10	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	680	19.66	2.72	$29,910
11	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary	650	18.73	2.05	$22,450
12	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive	630	18.10	1.65	$23,580
13	Home Health and Personal Care Aides	600	17.40	0.63	$21,840
14	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators	560	16.27	1.80	$23,000
15	First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	550	15.91	1.72	$39,080
16	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants	480	13.80	2.23	$35,130
17	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General	470	13.60	1.38	$23,440
18	Waiters and Waitresses	450	13.04	0.89	$22,140
19	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	430	12.28	0.93	$23,840
20	Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria	380	10.95	3.86	$24,410

Most concentrated occupations in Arecibo, PR

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Sewing Machine Operators	43.14	1,010	29.10	$22,550
2	Teachers and Instructors, All Other	11.44	290	8.37	$59,850
3	Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	6.58	160	4.61	$62,240
4	Couriers and Messengers	6.47	100	2.85	$22,210
5	Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians	5.78	100	2.81	$47,360
6	Helpers--Production Workers	4.39	160	4.67	$24,430
7	Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan	4.37	140	4.16	$22,810
8	Special Education Teachers, Secondary School	4.08	150	4.31	$58,030
9	Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria	3.86	380	10.95	$24,410
10	Bill and Account Collectors	3.85	140	3.94	$24,960

Occupation groups in Arecibo, PR

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$66,470	$83,480	1,040	30.06	0.42
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$62,390	$63,790	170	4.88	0.51
Architecture and Engineering	$59,800	$63,510	350	10.08	0.60
Educational Instruction and Library	$51,580	$50,130	3,200	92.06	1.57
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$40,250	$43,390	140	3.95	0.30
Business and Financial Operations	$38,430	$46,460	1,200	34.50	0.51
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$37,450	$46,260	2,250	64.91	1.03
Community and Social Service	$36,970	$40,770	490	14.20	0.83
Computer and Mathematical	$34,320	$42,580	200	5.73	0.17
Construction and Extraction	$28,460	$31,720	1,070	30.72	0.74
Office and Administrative Support	$26,740	$29,750	5,200	149.82	1.31
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$25,730	$33,090	1,240	35.76	0.91
Transportation and Material Moving	$23,840	$26,950	2,550	73.31	0.83
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$23,080	$25,790	1,110	31.85	1.09
Production	$23,000	$27,680	3,970	114.29	2.07
Sales and Related	$22,580	$28,660	4,910	141.37	1.64
Protective Service	$22,080	$36,140	490	14.17	0.58
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$22,070	$24,670	3,650	104.99	1.19
Personal Care and Service	$22,030	$24,240	380	11.04	0.53
Healthcare Support	$21,910	$27,060	1,050	30.21	0.59
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	–	–	–	–	–
Legal	*	*	60	1.79	0.21

All 152 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Arecibo, PR estimates (area 11640).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Arecibo, PR area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.