The information gathered from the United States Census Bureau (the Bureau) every 10 years reflects that in the Estuario de la Bahía de San Juan region, less than half of the population is under the poverty line (40%).
The census areas with the highest proportions of poor populations are concentrated along the center of the estuary basin (as can be seen on the map) and at the eastern and western ends.
The census areas with higher poverty include south Cataño, the north and central area of San Juan, and the municipality of Loíza.
Cataño is the municipality with the highest proportion of the population below the poverty line, at 59%. The municipalities that follow in poverty rates are: Canóvanas (47%), San Juan (44%), and Loíza (43%).
The estuary basin is composed of the municipalities of Bayamón, Cataño, Carolina, Canóvanas, Guaynabo, Loíza, San Juan, Toa Baja, and Trujillo Alto.
The information from the census is aggregated following the official administrative divisions of the United States Census Bureau, which have been established according to the level of detail and the geographical scale in which it is desired to work. In the case of Puerto Rico, some of these official divisions are municipalities, neighborhoods, census tracts, and census blocks, among others. Census sectors are further defined by adding small regions that contain a certain homogeneity in their population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions. They are contiguous areas where the main criterion for their definition is that the total population fluctuates around 4,000 people.
The map shows the percentage of the population that is below the poverty line within each census sector of the area that comprises the basin of the Estuario de la Bahía de San Juan.
