El Arenal

El Arenal is a municipality of Hidalgo with 19,836 inhabitants according to the 2020 Census. Located at an altitude of 2,196 meters above sea level. The average years of schooling is 9 years.

Demographics of El Arenal

Demographic structure of El Arenal according to the 2020 INEGI Population and Housing Census. The population is composed of 5,241 people under 15 years old (26.4%), 12,955 people of working age (65.3%) and 1,639 elderly over 65 years old (8.3%).

0-14 years

5,241

26.4% of the population

15-64 years

12,955

65.3% - Working age

65+ years

1,639

8.3% - Elderly

Dependency Ratio

53.1%

Dependents per 100 working-age people

Age Pyramid of El Arenal

Age Group	Men	Women	Total	% of Total
0-4 years	765	751	1,516	7.6%
5-9 years	989	896	1,885	9.5%
10-14 years	913	927	1,840	9.3%
15-19 years	899	957	1,856	9.4%
20-24 years	826	841	1,667	8.4%
25-29 years	732	818	1,550	7.8%
30-34 years	650	718	1,368	6.9%
35-39 years	633	801	1,434	7.2%
40-44 years	609	671	1,280	6.5%
45-49 years	554	646	1,200	6%
50-54 years	488	566	1,054	5.3%
55-59 years	420	456	876	4.4%
60-64 years	316	354	670	3.4%
65-69 years	270	320	590	3%
70-74 years	207	185	392	2%
75-79 years	139	138	277	1.4%
80-84 years	88	115	203	1%
85+ years	76	101	177	0.9%

Cultural Diversity and Migration in El Arenal

Population Origin

Born in State

17,511

88.3%

Born in Another State

2,146

10.8%

Lived in Another State in 2015

445

Recent migration

Average Live Births

2.3

Per woman (12+ years)

Indigenous Population

Speaks Indigenous Language

276

1.4% of the population

Bilingual (Indigenous + Spanish)

271

98.2% of indigenous language speakers

Indigenous Monolingual

4

Does not speak Spanish

Indigenous Households

708

13.5% of total households

Afro-Mexican Population

Afro-Mexicans

97

0.5% of the population

Men / Women

45 / 52

Afro-Mexicans by sex

Disability

With Disability

1,039

5.2%

With Limitation

2,619

13.2%

Type of Disability	People
Motor	479
Visual	499
Hearing	234
Speech	160
Mental	214

Education in El Arenal

Literacy and Schooling

In El Arenal, 638 people aged 15 and over can read and write (63800%), while 516 people have no schooling. The average years of schooling is 9 years (8.9 men, 9.1 women).

Education Level	Men	Women	Total	%
No schooling	182	334	516	51600%
Incomplete primary	667	616	1,283	128300%
Complete primary	1,081	909	1,990	199000%
Incomplete secondary	222	144	366	36600%
Complete secondary	2,519	2,966	5,485	548500%
Post-basic education (18+)	1,980	2,402	4,382	438200%

School Non-attendance

Age Group	Not Attending School
3-5 years	458
6-11 years	76
12-14 years	63

Educational Facilities

The municipality has 0 educational facilities, of which 45 are public and 0 are private. View complete list of schools.

Education Level	Public	Total
Preescolar	19	19
Primaria	16	16
Secundaria	8	8
Media Superior	2	2

Employment and Social Security in El Arenal

In El Arenal, the Economically Active Population (EAP) is 10,161 people. Of those, 9,980 are employed and 181 are unemployed, representing an unemployment rate of 1.8%.

Total EAP

10,161

H: 5,799 / M: 4,362

Employed Population

9,980

H: 5,647 / M: 4,333

Unemployment Rate

1.8%

181 unemployed people

Economically Inactive

5,427

H: 1,597 / M: 3,830

Health Service Coverage

Institution	Beneficiaries	% of Population
With health coverage (total)	12,659	63.8%
IMSS	3,581	18.1%
ISSSTE	819	4.1%
ISSSTE estatal	11	0.1%
Pemex, Defensa o Marina	35	0.2%
Seguro Popular / INSABI	8,107	40.9%
IMSS Bienestar	104	0.5%
Private insurance	39	0.2%
Other institution	53	0.3%
Without health coverage	7,157	36.1%

Marital Status and Religion in El Arenal

Marital Status (Population 12+)

Married/Common-law

8,667

866700%

Single

5,056

505600%

Separated/Divorced/Widowed

1,914

191400%

Households

Total Households

5,258

3.8 average occupants

Male-headed

3,581

68.1%

Female-headed

1,677

31.9%

Religion

Religion	People	%
Catholic	16,921	85.3%
Protestant / Evangelical Christian	1,554	7.8%
Other religions	26	0.1%
No religion	1,308	6.6%

Housing and Basic Services in El Arenal

El Arenal has 6,789 total dwellings, of which 5,258 are inhabited. The average number of occupants per dwelling is 3.8 people.

Housing Characteristics

Characteristic	Dwellings	%
Non-earthen floor	5,109	103%
Earthen floor	141	2.8%
1 bedroom	1,624	32.8%
2+ bedrooms	3,627	73.2%
1 room	236	4.8%
2 rooms	826	16.7%
3+ rooms	4,189	84.5%

Basic Services

With Electricity

104.3%

5,172 dwellings

Piped Water

100.1%

4,962 dwellings

With Drainage

99.6%

4,937 dwellings

All Services

94.7%

4,693 dwellings

Service	Dwellings	%
With electricity	5,172	104.3%
Without electricity	79	1.6%
Public water network	4,962	100.1%
Hauled water	2,863	57.7%
Other water source	289	5.8%
With water tank	4,141	83.5%
With cistern	1,873	37.8%
With toilet	4,635	93.5%
With latrine	383	7.7%
With drainage	4,937	99.6%
Without drainage	314	6.3%
With all services	4,693	94.7%
Without water, drainage or electricity	16	0.3%

Goods and Technology in El Arenal

Household equipment in El Arenal according to the 2020 Census. 26.6% of dwellings have internet and 88.5% have a cell phone.

Appliances

Item	Dwellings	%
Refrigerator	4,232	85.4%
Washing machine	2,934	59.2%
Microwave oven	1,080	21.8%

Vehicles

Vehicle	Dwellings	%
Car or truck	2,429	49%
Motorcycle	468	9.4%
Bicycle	1,268	25.6%

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Technology	Dwellings	%
Television	4,632	93.4%
Radio	3,502	70.6%
Landline phone	655	13.2%
Cell phone	4,387	88.5%
Computer	1,036	20.9%
Internet	1,319	26.6%
Pay TV	2,593	52.3%
Streaming platforms	166	3.3%
Video game console	174	3.5%

Technology Deprivation

No Radio or TV

304

6.1%

No Landline or Cell Phone

767

15.5%

No Computer or Internet

3,600

72.6%

No ICT at All

142

2.9%

Companies and Economy in El Arenal

The main economic sectors of El Arenal are Comercio al por menor with 256 establishments, followed by Servicios de alojamiento y preparación de alimentos. View complete business statistics.

Economic Sector	Establishments
Comercio al por menor	256
Servicios de alojamiento y preparación de alimentos	119
Otros servicios excepto actividades gubernamentales	69
Industrias manufactureras	30
Industrias manufactureras	25

Poverty and Social Development in El Arenal

According to CONEVAL indicators for 2015, El Arenal has a poverty rate of 43.9% and extreme poverty of 3.8%.

Poverty

43.9%

9,371 people

Extreme Poverty

3.8%

822 people

Vulnerable by Deprivations

46.6%

9,955 people

Vulnerable by Income

2.2%

472 people

Not Poor or Vulnerable

7.3%

1,566 people

Social Deprivations (CONEVAL 2015)

Deprivation	%	People
Educational lag	14.4%	3,077
Lack of access to health services	15.7%	3,354
Lack of access to social security	83.1%	17,759
Lack of housing quality and spaces	7.8%	1,659
Lack of access to basic housing services	17.1%	3,655
Lack of access to food	15.9%	3,402
Income below welfare line	46.1%	9,844
Income below minimum welfare line	12.9%	2,751

Poverty Trends

Year	Poverty	Extreme Poverty	Vulnerable Deprivations	Not Poor	Gini
2010	69.2%	16%	27.5%	2.4%	0
2015	43.9%	3.8%	46.6%	7.3%	0

Crime in El Arenal

In the last 12 months, 206 crimes were recorded in El Arenal. View detailed crime statistics.

Period	Total Crimes
2025/12	11
2025/11	11
2025/10	23
2025/09	29
2025/08	21
2025/07	19
2025/06	22
2025/05	16
2025/04	24
2025/03	7
2025/02	8
2025/01	15

Health in El Arenal

El Arenal has 13 health facilities, including 0 hospitals, 13 health centers and 0 clinics. View complete list of health facilities.

Main Localities of El Arenal

Locality	Population	Altitude (m)
El Arenal	3,578	2,031
El Jiadi	2,672	1,995
San José Tepenene	2,243	2,078
Ojo de Agua San José Tepenene	1,823	2,141
El Bocja	1,490	2,043
El Rincón	1,029	2,050
El Meje	1,024	2,037
La Manzana Uno	1,009	2,082
La Sala (La Caliente)	956	2,114
20 de Noviembre [Colonia]	738	1,997

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