Puerto Rico’s youth drove 2nd wave of emigration
Two to 3% of Puerto Rico’s young people and young adults emigrated to the U.S. mainland during the peak period of the island’s Second Emigration Wave from 2018 to 2022, the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics reported Thursday.
For more than a decade, adults ages 16 to 44 accounted for 70% of emigration.
In search of better compensation
Higher salaries and improved medical benefits were factors driving Puerto Rico’s emigrants during the Second Emigration Wave, Alberto L. Velázquez-Estrada, senior manager of statistical projects at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, said during a presentation.
For example, in 2023 the average annual salary for nurses in Puerto Rico was $37,780, versus $82,850 in Florida and $90,010 in Texas, and the average salary for elementary school teachers was about $35,000 in Puerto Rico and more than $59,000 in Florida and Texas, he said.
Most emigrants worked in the service sector, especially in food, health care, hospitality, education, cleaning and maintenance, and transportation industries.
Historical context
While emigration has been a constant in Puerto Rico for decades, this wave happened under different circumstances than the First Emigration Wave.
The first wave occurred from the 1940s to 1970s — peaking during the 1950s — when about 470,000 people left the island for the mainland. At the time, Puerto Rico’s population of about 2.4 million was growing, offsetting much of the emigration that took place. Most first-wave emigrants moved to the Northeast, to states such as New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
During the second wave, from 2008 to 2022, some 426,000 residents left for the mainland, and although the island’s population was higher at 3.5 million, it was declining, Velázquez-Estrada explained. Most second-wave emigrants moved to Florida, as well as Texas and South Carolina.
The second wave has had a greater socioeconomic impact than the first because of its effect on the island’s demographics and labor markets, Velázquez-Estrada said.
Who emigrated?
Most of the people who emigrated from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland during the Second Emigration Wave were 28 to 30 years old, with just about as many men as women emigrating, Velázquez-Estrada said.
From 2013 to 2017, Puerto Rico lost 3% of its 25-34 population and 2.8% of its 16-24 population, according to the data.
The data provided by the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics divides the Second Emigration Wave into three distinct periods: 2008-2012, 2013-2017 and 2018-2022. It shows that emigration was higher in most age groups during the second subwave, from 2013 to 2017. The six age groups analyzed were 16 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, and 65 and older.
In the five years from 2013 to 2017, emigration peaked at 12,500 among people ages 25 to 34 and 12,300 in the 16-24 age group. It reached 9,700 in the 35-44 group, 5,600 in the 45-54 group, 2,600 in the 55-64 group and 4,800 among those 65 and older.
During most years of the second wave, more emigrants had higher education (at least a high school diploma) than immigrants and the general population. More were also working: 35% to 45% of the emigrants were outside the labor force, versus 50% to 55% of immigrants.
Although figures varied throughout the second-wave years, it is clear that emigrants were consistently more active in the labor force, Velázquez-Estrada noted.
Population loss
The data show that Puerto Rico’s population dropped in all age groups during the Second Emigration Wave, except in the 55 to 64 age group. Comparing the first, second and third subwaves, the island’s population dropped 0.8% from 2008-2012 to 2013-2017 and 0.5% from 2013-2017 to 2018-2022.
Second-wave emigration peaked in 2018 at about 130,000 emigrants. “During that time (after the 2017 hurricanes), the island was in a state of emergency and slow recovery, and the population reacted,” Velázquez-Estrada said.
Since 2021 and 2022, emigration has slowed to between 15,000 and 20,000 people per year, he added.
