is san juan a good place to live? 2026 honest review (from a ghost hunter who keeps seeing old soldiers)

okay, real talk. i’m not here to sell you a postcard. i’m here because my ‘day job’ is hunting ghosts in old forts and hospitals, and i’ve logged more hours in san juan’s humid spine than most tourists get in three lifetimes. so, is it a good place to live in 2026? grab a rum coke, this is messy.

first, the vibe. it’s not "vibrant," it’s crammed. the city feels like a layer cake built by a caffeine-addled abuela-colonial stones under international finance glass, under rainbow slums that cling to hills like lichen. you’ll smell diesel, frying plantains, salt, and sometimes the weird, sweet rot of a mango someone didn’t pick up. the weather? it’s a ghost in itself. not just heat, but a wet heat that soaks your bones and makes everything stick. your shirt, your thoughts, your plans. the trade winds are your only friend, and they’re fickle. hurricane season isn’t a season, it’s a mood swing. june to november, you watch the atlantic like it’s a pissed-off ex.

let’s talk numbers, because you’re not a ghost, you need to pay rent. *condado and santurce are the usual suspects for gringos and digital nomads. a decent one-bedroom? $1,100 to $1,800 usd. don’t gasp yet. old san juan studios can still be found for $800 if you know a guy who knows a guy, but you’ll be living above a bar that shakes until 4am. the job market is two-faced: tourism and remote work are the golden calves, but local wages for service jobs are rough. the federal minimum wage is a cruel joke here. you’re either pulling usd from a nyc employer or you’re serving tables at a cart in la placita for tips that barely cover the mofongo you’ll eat for dinner.

is the blockquote everyone whispers. a local bartender in bayamón told me, "the bad neighborhoods aren’t on the tourist map. but the good neighborhoods have bad blocks. it’s a checkerboard of okay and nope." the stats say crime is down from the 90s, but the perception is sticky. you lock your car. you don’t wear flashy jewelry walking at night in merced. it’s a 6pm-in-summer thing-the city changes after dark. also, the power grid is a national joke. expect apagones (blackouts). a generator or a good power bank isn’t a luxury, it’s oxygen.

neighbors? we’re an island, so everyone is a neighbor and a ferry ride away. culebra and vieques are those stunning, painful 1.5-hour ferry rides away-paradise if you can snag a spot. miami is a two-hour flight, which feels like both a lifetime and nothing when you need a target practice of a city that doesn’t have potholes that swallow cars. the dominican republic is a cheap jet ski away, culturally close but a different planet.

"overheard rumor" #1: "don’t drink the water." it’s mostly true, but the tap water in metro areas is technically treated. i’ve met locals who drink it. i don’t. i’m a cautious ghost hunter; i don’t need a poltergeist and giardia.

"drunk advice" from a retiree in cataño: "live where the breeze hits the bedroom. everything else is negotiable."

real data dump: median household income in the metro area is about $24k usd. unemployment bounces around 6-8%. poverty rate is stubbornly near 40%. but the cost of living index is only 12% lower than miami? feels like a lie until you buy $6 café con leche and a $25 groin-up in santurce.

for the love of all that’s holy, get a car. public transit is a myth with a faint smell of urine. traffic on the teodoro moscoso bridge at 5pm is a personal hell. a good daily driver will cost you $300-$500 a month between payment, insurance (high), and gas ($5+/gallon, last i checked).

links that saved me:
- r/PuertoRico for the raw, unfiltered gossip from people actually living it.
- Yelp: Best Mofongo in San Juan because you will need this.
- TripAdvisor: San Juan Safety Discussion read the 2024 posts, the old ones are ghosts.
- Puerto Rico Labor Department Statistics for the dry numbers behind the vibe.

the final say? it’s a place of brutal, beautiful contradictions. you can be dancing salsa at 2am and five blocks over find a crumbling caserío with laundry lines like spiderwebs. it’s loud, it’s proud, it’s broke in a thousand ways but flush with culture that slaps you in the face. if you need predictable, look elsewhere. if you need a place that makes you feel alive, tired, broke, and mystical all before lunch? san juan’s your weird, humid, spirit-filled bet. just remember: your EMF reader won’t pay the ayuntamiento* tax. and the ghosts? they don’t care about your visa status.

You might also be interested in:

• https://topiclo.com/post/shooting-for-the-stars-in-athens-a-photographers-guide-to-local-biz-tax
• https://topiclo.com/post/job-market-analysis-most-indemand-careers-in-soledad-5
• https://topiclo.com/post/the-best-public-and-private-schools-in-nampula-no-fluff-just-facts
• https://topiclo.com/post/kochi-rain-rust-and-really-weird-fish-2
• https://topiclo.com/post/taichung-with-a-mutt-yeah-okay-heres-the-real-scoop