Juncos

Amgen's largest manufacturing campus anywhere in the world sits in this municipality of 37,000 people. The biotechnology giant's Juncos facility—with laboratories and bulk manufacturing for biologics like Neupogen, Neulasta, Aranesp, and Epogen—employs close to 3,000 workers. Add Medtronic and Becton Dickinson, and Juncos claims the highest average manufacturing employment among all 78 Puerto Rico municipalities at 4,641 jobs.

This concentration didn't happen by accident. Section 936 tax incentives drew pharmaceutical manufacturers to Puerto Rico starting in the 1970s; when those benefits phased out, biotech companies arrived to fill the ecosystem. Manufacturing now comprises 43-50% of Puerto Rico's GDP, and Juncos exemplifies this specialization. In 2023, manufacturing employed 2,247 residents—more than retail (2,015) or healthcare (1,742).

The sector's growth defies island-wide trends. From 2022 to 2023, employment in Juncos grew 10.5%, from 12,900 to 14,300 workers. Median household income reached $28,196—higher than many Puerto Rico municipalities, though still below mainland standards. The population held nearly steady at 36,895, declining just 0.09%.

Spread across nine barrios in the eastern central region, Juncos occupies the Caguas Valley west of Las Piedras, south of Carolina. The San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area integrates it into Puerto Rico's economic core. Unlike municipalities bleeding young workers to the mainland, Juncos offers career-track employment that keeps families rooted.

For 2026, Juncos represents a test case: can pharmaceutical manufacturing continue drawing investment despite Puerto Rico's grid fragility and hurricane exposure, or will supply chain considerations eventually relocate production to mainland facilities?