Isabela Municipio, Puerto Rico

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Below the state median: Median household income runs $3,031 (11.5%) under the Puerto Rico median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Elevated poverty: At 43.6%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 11.7 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 45 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Retail Trade employs 1,679 workers (38.2% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $23,801. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 1,475 and is counted separately.
• Wage stratification: Information averages $40,997 while Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation averages $13,724, a 3.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Health and Personal Care Retailers concentrates at 4.05x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 9 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 49.8% of the employment across them, the largest being visitor economy. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.

• Stretched market: Home value to income ratio of 5.9x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
• Elevated vacancy: 31.6% of housing units are vacant, above the Puerto Rico rate of 21%, and up from 27.6% in 2019.
• Vacancy composition: the largest vacancy category is other vacant at 63% of vacant units, with seasonal and recreational use at 19.1%.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 14.1% of the vacant stock, or 4.4% of all housing units against the 31.6% headline vacancy rate. That is the figure to plan an incoming employer's housing against, and the gap between the two is the redevelopment and conversion opportunity.
• Rent affordability gap: None of the 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $16,079 can pay without cost burden (~$402/mo), and 22.8% of renter households are already cost-burdened, 12.7% severely so; workforce housing cost burden warrants attention.

• Succession risk is real: 22.4% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 39.6% labor force participation against a labor force that grew 18.8% between 2019 and 2024, so workforce development programs may unlock additional supply.

Isabela Municipio shows meaningful potential for health and personal care retailers attraction, with a 4.05x concentration and 193 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 22.4% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans health and personal care retailers, clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers, and accommodation, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 49.8% of the employment across them, the largest being visitor economy. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.