Telecom Equipment Installers in the San Juan area earn a median of $34,690 a year, 44% below the typical U.S. metro. That ranks #320 of 320 metros for telecom equipment installer pay nationwide.
It's the only Puerto Rico metro with published pay for this trade; see telecom equipment installer pay in Puerto Rico, including rural areas.
Telecom Equipment Installer pay in San Juan at a glance
- Telecom equipment installers in the San Juan, PR metro earn a median $34,690 a year ($16.68 an hour), #320 of 320 U.S. metros (BLS, May 2025).
- The middle 80% earn between $25,960 and $51,190.
- A typical 1-bedroom rents for $581 a month, 20% of the median pay (HUD, FY2027).
- About 400 telecom equipment installers work in the metro.
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What this means Our calculation
Pay for telecom equipment installers here is in the bottom 20% of U.S. metros.
San Juan scorecard for telecom equipment installers Our calculation
Grades compare San Juan with every other U.S. metro for this trade (A = top 20%).
Pay Government data
Pay range
Shaded: the middle half of workers.
Pay over time
The median pay for telecom equipment installers in the San Juan area went from $31,610 in 2020 to $34,690 in 2025, up 9.7%. Prices rose 25% over the same period, so after inflation that's -12.5% — a real pay cut.
BLS OEWS, May 2020–May 2025; inflation: CPI-U (May to May). Year-to-year changes can include survey noise.
Compared with nearby metros
Rent in San Juan
Typical rent is $581 a month for a 1-bedroom and $683 for a 2-bedroom.
What telecom equipment installers do
Install, set up, rearrange, or remove switching, distribution, routing, and dialing equipment used in central offices or headends. Service or repair telephone, cable television, Internet, and other communications equipment on customers' property. May install communications equipment or communications wiring in buildings.
Most important day-to-day tasks
- Note differences in wire and cable colors so that work can be performed correctly.
- Test circuits and components of malfunctioning telecommunications equipment to isolate sources of malfunctions, using test meters, circuit diagrams, polarity probes, and other hand tools.
- Drive crew trucks to and from work areas.
- Assemble and install communication equipment such as data and telephone communication lines, wiring, switching equipment, wiring frames, power apparatus, computer systems, and networks.
- Inspect equipment on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning.
Outlook & getting started
Nationally, telecom equipment installer jobs are projected to shrink 3.3% from 2025 to 2035 (all jobs: 3.5%), with about 11,300 openings a year. About 1% are self-employed.
What the work is like Government data
How often telecom equipment installers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Licensing in Puerto Rico Official source
Check with local authorities in Puerto Rico. Check with the building or licensing office where you plan to work.
Requirements for telecom equipment installers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
On-the-job safety Government data
Nationally, telecom equipment installers have 168 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.9× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is overexertion and repetitive strain.
BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2023–2024 (national, cases with days away from work).
How much work is there? Government data
Getting to work
The average commute in the San Juan area is 30 minutes each way, longer than the typical metro (24 min). 22% of commuters spend 45 minutes or more. 82% drive alone, 1% take transit and 6% work from home (all workers, not just trades).
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table S0801).
New construction
In 2025 the San Juan area approved permits for 1,546 new homes (1,459 single-family), or 0.8 per 1,000 residents, ranking #371 of 393 metros.
Employee vs. working for yourself Your scenario
A model, not a market rate. It shows the break-even rate to match a $34,690 employee salary once you cover what an employer normally pays for (including the employer half of Social Security and Medicare, 7.65%), then adds your profit margin. Change any number.
Break-even rate
With your profit margin
How this calculator works. Weighing a contractor job against a W-2 one? Try the 1099 vs. W-2 comparison. Billable hours are hours you can charge a customer. Driving, quoting, paperwork and slow weeks aren't billable, which is why 1,400 is a common starting point versus 2,080 paid hours as an employee.
Get telecom equipment installer pricing & estimate templates →Compare San Juan with another city →
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ToolSan Juan budgetMonthly take-home, HUD rent and local prices on this pay.About this data
Local to the San Juan metro: pay (BLS, May 2025) and pay over time (2020–2025, CPI-adjusted), prices (BEA, 2024), rent (HUD, FY2027), new construction, housing, population and commuting (Census), unemployment (BLS) and business counts (Census, by industry). National: job outlook and training (BLS projections), injury rates (BLS) and duties (O*NET). Jobs are employment estimates, not open positions; grades rank San Juan against every other metro for telecom equipment installers. Every source, year and formula is on our data page.
Report a data issue on this page
BEA doesn't publish price levels for San Juan, so real pay isn't shown. The Census doesn't publish one-person business or competition figures for telecom equipment installers as a separate industry, so that section is left out.