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U.S. Virgin Islands

Situated just east of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands are a U.S. territory that includes the islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. Its population fell by a striking 18 percent over the last decade to 87,000 in 2021—the lowest level since the 1970s. Its economy has been weakened by a series of blows—the closure in 2012 of the Hovensa oil refinery, a major employer; Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, which caused extensive damage and disruptions; and the pandemic in 2020, which devastated its key tourism industry, which is highly dependent on cruise ship visits.

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	Population 2023	Pop growth 2023, 10-year change (%)	GDP 2022, billions ($)	Job growth 2023, 5-year change (%)	Median household income 2022 ($)	Median home price 2022 ($)	Pop share age 25+ with BA+ 2022 (%)
U.S. Virgin Islands	87,146	-17	5	5.8	40,408	291,000	22.3
Puerto Rico*	3,221,789	-10	114	9.2	23,300	122,000	29.8
United States	334,914,895	5.5	25,744	4.8	71,700	321,000	35.7

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Data retrieved through data.census.gov, Moody's Economy.com, or directly from source.
*Note: Included for comparison

The New York Fed publishes indicators, trends, research and analysis on our Second District. Explore the content below to learn more.

Economic Activity in the Second District Contracted Modestly

April 23, 2025

Economic activity contracted modestly as heightened uncertainty weighed on businesses and consumers. Employment was steady to up slightly. Price increases picked up to the higher end of the moderate range. Businesses expressed significant concern about tariffs. Outlooks darkened, with many businesses anticipating declining activity and rising prices.

collage of portrait images of people of different demographics

Regional Economic Heterogeneity Indicators

April 8, 2025

The Economic Heterogeneity Indicators are broad-based economic indicators that measure macroeconomic outcomes experienced by different demographic, economic, and geographic groups across the New York-New Jersey metro area, as well as all other counties in New York state.

Full Regional Report | Regional Data

Jaison Abel's Briefing on Economic Conditions in the Region

March 25, 2025

In a presentation for the 2025 New York Fed Regional and Community Banking Conference, Jaison Abel, Head of Microeconomics, discussed economic conditions in the region, including employment, inflation, housing, and business conditions.

Credit Insecurity in the United States: 2018-2023

BY Jake Scott, Ambika Nair, and Claire Kramer Mills | March 6, 2025

The report introduces a geographic measure of credit access across the United States called the Credit Insecurity Index. The index combines data about the share of adults without a credit score or file and the share who have limited access to affordable credit. The report uses the index to measure access to affordable credit at the national, state, city, town, and county level.

illustration of new york city skyline in blue against gold background

Firms’ Inflation Expectations Have Picked Up

By Jaison R. Abel, Richard Deitz, and Ben Hyman | March 5, 2025

After a period of high inflation following the pandemic recession, inflationary pressures have been moderating the past few years, dropping from a peak of 9.1 percent in 2022 to 3 percent at the beginning of 2025. However, firms expect both cost and price increases to move higher in 2025, with year-ahead inflation expectations rising from 3 percent last year at this time to 3.5 to 4 percent, though longer-term inflation expectations remain anchored at around 3 percent.

Early Benchmarked Employment Data

January 31, 2025

Our economists provide early benchmarks of initial monthly employment releases throughout the year and make the benchmarked data about the New York Fed region available to the public on a monthly basis.

Regional Employment Trends

January 31, 2025

These interactive charts illustrate payroll employment trends for more than 20 geographies in the Second District, from the state level down to metropolitan areas.

Technician using a tablet in a car factory

AI and the Labor Market: Will Firms Hire, Fire, or Retrain?

BY Jaison R. Abel, Richard Deitz, Natalia Emanuel, and Benjamin Hyman | September 4, 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to dramatically change the labor market and possibly the nature of work itself. The results of the authors’ August regional business surveys find most firms that expected to use AI in the next six months plan to retrain their workforces, with far fewer reporting adjustments to planned headcounts.

Supply Chain Disruptions Have Eased, But Remain a Concern

BY Jaison R. Abel and Richard Deitz | May 20, 2024

Supply chain disruptions became a major headache for businesses in the aftermath of the pandemic and were a key contributor to the surge in inflation. The authors present new measures in supply availability from the New York Fed’s Business Leaders Survey, Empire State Manufacturing Survey, and Global Supply Chain Pressure Index. They find that supply availability had generally been improving since early 2023, but improvement has stalled over the past couple of months.

lawn sign with foreclosure for sale sign in front of residential property

Many Places Still Have Not Recovered from the Pandemic Recession

May 7, 2024

The onset of the pandemic resulted in one of the sharpest and deepest economic downturns in U.S. history. The authors examine the uneven geographic recovery from the pandemic recession, noting that much of the New York-Northern New Jersey region is still way behind.

Andy Haughwout’s Briefing on U.S. and Regional Economic Conditions

April 18, 2024

In a presentation at the 2024 New York Fed Regional and Community Banking Conference, Andy discussed economic conditions, including employment, inflation, business activity, housing, and commercial real estate.

Small Business Recovery after Natural Disasters

Banks versus Hurricanes

November 20, 2023

Puerto Rico’s location in the Caribbean leaves it highly exposed to all manner of severe weather. Hurricane Maria, which struck the island on September 17, 2017, was a worst case in some respects as it struck just two weeks after Hurricane Irma flooded the island. Even so, the island’s economy and banks recovered surprisingly quickly. This post discusses the various protections—including homeowners’ insurance, federal aid, and mortgage guarantees—that helped buttress the island’s economy and banks.

Small Business Recovery after Natural Disasters in the Fed’s Second District

November 16, 2023

This is the second of the two-part series on how natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, droughts, and winter storms affect small businesses in the Federal Reserve’s Second District. While the previous post focused on the impact of such disasters using data from the Small Business Credit Survey for the period 2021-22, this post focuses on the aftermath of such disasters, and examines disparities in the ability of firms to reopen their businesses and access disaster relief.

How Do Natural Disasters Affect Small Business Owners in the Fed’s Second District?

November 15, 2023

Data from the Federal Reserve’s Small Business Credit Survey shed light on how small businesses in the Second District are impacted by natural disasters (such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, droughts, and winter storms). The author finds that increasing shares of small business firms in the region sustain losses from natural disasters, with minority-owned firms suffering losses at a disproportionately higher rate than white-owned firms.

Inaccurate flood zones in the Fed’s Second District

Flood Risk and Firm Location Decisions in the Fed’s Second District

November 14, 2023

The intensity, duration, and frequency of flooding have increased over the past few decades. As the frequency of flood events continues to increase, the number of people, buildings, and agriculture exposed to flood risk is only likely to grow. This post focuses on the distribution of flood risk within the Federal Reserve's Second District and examines its effect on establishment location decisions over the last two decades.

How Do Banks Lend in Inaccurate Flood Zones in the Fed’s Second District?

November 13, 2023

This post examines the impact of flood risk, particularly on bank lending in the Federal Reserve’s Second District. Using data on the accuracy of flood maps, the authors examine banks’ lending practices within “very inaccurate” and “inaccurately” mapped areas. A map is considered “very inaccurate” If a property faces significant flooding damage (highest damage quartile) but is not mapped into a flood zone, and “inaccurate” If properties in an area face moderate damage but are insufficiently mapped.

Potential Flood Map Inaccuracies in the Fed’s Second District

November 10, 2023

The National Flood Insurance Program flood maps, which designate flood-prone areas, are updated periodically through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and community efforts. Even so, many of these maps are outdated. Given that climate-related risks vary geographically, it is crucial to produce accurate maps for such risks, like flooding. This post uses detailed data on the flood risk faced by individual dwellings as well as digitized FEMA flood maps to assess the accuracy of flood mapping in the Federal Reserve’s Second District.

Slow Road to Recovery: U.S.V.I. Sees Signs of Resilience

June 20, 2023

A summary of key themes that emerged during President John C. Williams regional visit to the U.S. Virgin Island for two days of meetings on St. Croix and St. Thomas.

Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Hub

January 01, 2018

A collection of reports and information about Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

2014 Update on the Competitiveness of the Puerto Rico Economy

July 31, 2014

The New York Fed has undertaken this update of a 2012 report examining the competitiveness of the Island's economy.

2012 Report on the Competitiveness of the Puerto Rico Economy

June 29, 2012

The report analyzes local economic conditions, discusses challenges, and presents recommendations.

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