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Job Market Analysis: Most In-Demand Careers in San Juan (from a broke-ass freelancer trying to survive here)

@Zara Walsh2/8/2026blog
Job Market Analysis: Most In-Demand Careers in San Juan (from a broke-ass freelancer trying to survive here)

my laptop is dying on me right now, literally, the battery’s got the stamina of a three-day hangover, and i’m sitting in this overpriced café in Condado trying to figure out if there’s even a future here. this place is beautiful, yeah, but holy shit - the economics? vicious. I came for the vibes, and stayed because i’m too stubborn to pack.

So, jobs in *San Juan, huh? Let’s be real, nobody talks about this stuff like it is - a relentless mix of legal forms, Instagram posts, and side hustles with questionable legality. I’ve been grinding freelance for almost two years now, moving between Old San Juan and Santurce, so I’ve heard everything: from hostess gigs paying $400 a week to crypto bros bragging about six figures from their condo balconies.

What’s Actually Hiring in San Juan



Healthcare is booming. Like, aggressively. Nurses in Puerto Rico make around $25k-$35k a year, not great compared to the mainland, but the demand is real. I kept hearing “we’re desperate” in the checkout lines at Walgreens (yes, that's a healthcare job interview now apparently).

Hospitality? It’s the whole damn economy. There’s an army of bartenders, tour guides, and desk clerks working 60-hour weeks because tips + friend discounts on renta cars from dudes in El Paseo = survival.

Tech and Remote Work (here’s where I cry in the shower) is a mixed bag. You can make it work if your clients are U.S.-based and you’re okay with cash-only lifestyles. Airbnb your apartment and call it a “co-living space.” Just don’t get caught by the IRS, lol.

One day I overheard this older woman at the Piñones food stands talking about her nephew. She said he got a job at some tech startup in Guaynaboos (don’t @ me) and made $32k his first year. All I could think was, “Bro… rent here starts at $800.”

> “He moved to Hato Rey and works from his friend’s couch.” - Overheard in Piñones

Cost of Living: You’re NOT Living, You’re Just Existing



Let me drop some truth bombs:

ItemMonthly Cost (USD)
1BR Apartment (City Center)$700-$1,200
Utilities (Avg.)$100-$150
Local Beer$2.50
Monthly Transport Pass$20 (but good luck with frequency)
Coffee (Cafecito)$1.25


If you're like me and you're sleeping on a futon in someone’s walk-in closet in Santurce, sure, it’s doable. But don’t expect to retire here unless you hit big on that side hustle.

> “The Uber drivers know you’re broke. They charge extra just to watch you panic.” - A local driver I took twice

> “My cousin works at the marina - he says all the boat people sniff cocaine between meetings.” - Some dude on the beach near the Fortaleza Stairs

So, Should You Move Here?



Like, probably not if you're broke and inexperienced… but if you make remote cash or got rich parents?

Then San Juan is honestly one of the best places to crash. It feels like Miami had a baby with a small European island and raised it on reggaeton and patriotism. The beaches are ten-minute drives from almost anywhere. There are spots like La Casita de Rones where you can live in a little wooden cabin for $500 and eat mofongo every day without judgment.



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Want the real tea? Check r/PuertoRico where people lose their minds about everything from flooding to the latest pay cuts. Or cruise over to TripAdvisor’s San Juan page, where half the reviews are written by Americans who thought it was part of Florida.

Right now it’s 91°F and raining sideways because weather here doesn’t believe in moderation (thanks global warming), and from where I'm sitting, you can see the Aeropuerto Internacional* blinking in the distance like a beacon: come or flee, either way, spend money. Barbados, Miami, and Santo Domingo are just a flight away, which makes it really easy to ghost this island when the rent gets too real.

so yeah - this place’ll mess you up, but in a beautiful way. you in?

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About the author: Zara Walsh

Loves data, hates clutter.

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