El Arenal

El Arenal is a municipality of Jalisco with 21,115 inhabitants according to the 2020 Census. Located at an altitude of 1,427 meters above sea level. The average years of schooling is 9.3 years.

Demographics of El Arenal

Demographic structure of El Arenal according to the 2020 INEGI Population and Housing Census. The population is composed of 6,154 people under 15 years old (29.1%), 13,473 people of working age (63.8%) and 1,485 elderly over 65 years old (7%).

0-14 years

6,154

29.1% of the population

15-64 years

13,473

63.8% - Working age

65+ years

1,485

7% - Elderly

Dependency Ratio

56.7%

Dependents per 100 working-age people

Age Pyramid of El Arenal

Age Group	Men	Women	Total	% of Total
0-4 years	981	1,018	1,999	9.5%
5-9 years	1,024	1,101	2,125	10.1%
10-14 years	1,054	976	2,030	9.6%
15-19 years	957	964	1,921	9.1%
20-24 years	872	939	1,811	8.6%
25-29 years	797	840	1,637	7.8%
30-34 years	734	770	1,504	7.1%
35-39 years	709	751	1,460	6.9%
40-44 years	609	669	1,278	6.1%
45-49 years	631	667	1,298	6.1%
50-54 years	509	518	1,027	4.9%
55-59 years	400	430	830	3.9%
60-64 years	349	358	707	3.3%
65-69 years	241	250	491	2.3%
70-74 years	190	195	385	1.8%
75-79 years	148	156	304	1.4%
80-84 years	72	80	152	0.7%
85+ years	66	87	153	0.7%

Cultural Diversity and Migration in El Arenal

Population Origin

Born in State

19,217

91%

Born in Another State

1,598

7.6%

Lived in Another State in 2015

484

Recent migration

Average Live Births

2.3

Per woman (12+ years)

Indigenous Population

Speaks Indigenous Language

103

0.5% of the population

Bilingual (Indigenous + Spanish)

99

96.1% of indigenous language speakers

Indigenous Monolingual

2

Does not speak Spanish

Indigenous Households

223

3.9% of total households

Afro-Mexican Population

Afro-Mexicans

106

0.5% of the population

Men / Women

56 / 50

Afro-Mexicans by sex

Disability

With Disability

1,000

4.7%

With Limitation

1,820

8.6%

Type of Disability	People
Motor	577
Visual	330
Hearing	183
Speech	131
Mental	174

Education in El Arenal

Literacy and Schooling

In El Arenal, 444 people aged 15 and over can read and write (44400%), while 554 people have no schooling. The average years of schooling is 9.3 years (9.3 men, 9.3 women).

Education Level	Men	Women	Total	%
No schooling	277	277	554	55400%
Incomplete primary	697	717	1,414	141400%
Complete primary	1,052	1,080	2,132	213200%
Incomplete secondary	309	217	526	52600%
Complete secondary	1,955	2,245	4,200	420000%
Post-basic education (18+)	2,708	2,816	5,524	552400%

School Non-attendance

Age Group	Not Attending School
3-5 years	464
6-11 years	110
12-14 years	116

Educational Facilities

The municipality has 0 educational facilities, of which 38 are public and 3 are private. View complete list of schools.

Education Level	Public	Private	Total
Preescolar	14	1	15
Primaria	14	1	15
Secundaria	6	1	7
Media Superior	3	0	3

Employment and Social Security in El Arenal

In El Arenal, the Economically Active Population (EAP) is 9,586 people. Of those, 9,423 are employed and 163 are unemployed, representing an unemployment rate of 1.7%.

Total EAP

9,586

H: 6,079 / M: 3,507

Employed Population

9,423

H: 5,955 / M: 3,468

Unemployment Rate

1.7%

163 unemployed people

Economically Inactive

6,531

H: 1,784 / M: 4,747

Health Service Coverage

Institution	Beneficiaries	% of Population
With health coverage (total)	14,936	70.7%
IMSS	10,035	47.5%
ISSSTE	554	2.6%
ISSSTE estatal	15	0.1%
Pemex, Defensa o Marina	172	0.8%
Seguro Popular / INSABI	3,499	16.6%
IMSS Bienestar	15	0.1%
Private insurance	508	2.4%
Other institution	276	1.3%
Without health coverage	6,165	29.2%

Marital Status and Religion in El Arenal

Marital Status (Population 12+)

Married/Common-law

8,993

899300%

Single

5,493

549300%

Separated/Divorced/Widowed

1,678

167800%

Households

Total Households

5,681

3.7 average occupants

Male-headed

4,261

75%

Female-headed

1,420

25%

Religion

Religion	People	%
Catholic	19,954	94.5%
Protestant / Evangelical Christian	676	3.2%
Other religions	4	0%
No religion	461	2.2%

Housing and Basic Services in El Arenal

El Arenal has 8,977 total dwellings, of which 5,682 are inhabited. The average number of occupants per dwelling is 3.7 people.

Housing Characteristics

Characteristic	Dwellings	%
Non-earthen floor	5,636	100.3%
Earthen floor	36	0.6%
1 bedroom	1,383	24.6%
2+ bedrooms	4,289	76.3%
1 room	102	1.8%
2 rooms	629	11.2%
3+ rooms	4,941	87.9%

Basic Services

With Electricity

100.6%

5,652 dwellings

Piped Water

100.3%

5,640 dwellings

With Drainage

100.7%

5,658 dwellings

All Services

99.9%

5,617 dwellings

Service	Dwellings	%
With electricity	5,652	100.6%
Without electricity	21	0.4%
Public water network	5,640	100.3%
Hauled water	5,267	93.7%
Other water source	33	0.6%
With water tank	4,548	80.9%
With cistern	2,957	52.6%
With toilet	5,660	100.7%
With drainage	5,658	100.7%
Without drainage	14	0.2%
With all services	5,617	99.9%
Without water, drainage or electricity	1	0%

Goods and Technology in El Arenal

Household equipment in El Arenal according to the 2020 Census. 48.6% of dwellings have internet and 92.6% have a cell phone.

Appliances

Item	Dwellings	%
Refrigerator	5,395	96%
Washing machine	4,722	84%
Microwave oven	2,553	45.4%

Vehicles

Vehicle	Dwellings	%
Car or truck	3,074	54.7%
Motorcycle	1,348	24%
Bicycle	2,497	44.4%

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Technology	Dwellings	%
Television	5,372	95.6%
Radio	3,883	69.1%
Landline phone	1,380	24.6%
Cell phone	5,205	92.6%
Computer	1,917	34.1%
Internet	2,733	48.6%
Pay TV	3,682	65.5%
Streaming platforms	762	13.6%
Video game console	541	9.6%

Technology Deprivation

No Radio or TV

146

2.6%

No Landline or Cell Phone

277

4.9%

No Computer or Internet

2,588

46%

No ICT at All

36

0.6%

Companies and Economy in El Arenal

The main economic sectors of El Arenal are Comercio al por menor with 438 establishments, followed by Servicios de alojamiento y preparación de alimentos. View complete business statistics.

Economic Sector	Establishments
Comercio al por menor	438
Servicios de alojamiento y preparación de alimentos	146
Otros servicios excepto actividades gubernamentales	138
Industrias manufactureras	66
Servicios educativos	27

Poverty and Social Development in El Arenal

According to CONEVAL indicators for 2015, El Arenal has a poverty rate of 29.9% and extreme poverty of 1.3%.

Poverty

29.9%

6,290 people

Extreme Poverty

1.3%

282 people

Vulnerable by Deprivations

39.4%

8,293 people

Vulnerable by Income

5.2%

1,091 people

Not Poor or Vulnerable

25.6%

5,386 people

Social Deprivations (CONEVAL 2015)

Deprivation	%	People
Educational lag	19.7%	4,142
Lack of access to health services	11.9%	2,511
Lack of access to social security	59.7%	12,582
Lack of housing quality and spaces	6%	1,268
Lack of access to basic housing services	6%	1,257
Lack of access to food	7.6%	1,603
Income below welfare line	35%	7,381
Income below minimum welfare line	6.6%	1,389

Poverty Trends

Year	Poverty	Extreme Poverty	Vulnerable Deprivations	Not Poor	Gini
2010	47.9%	6.4%	34.4%	12.5%	0
2015	29.9%	1.3%	39.4%	25.6%	0

Crime in El Arenal

In the last 12 months, 305 crimes were recorded in El Arenal. View detailed crime statistics.

Period	Total Crimes
2025/12	21
2025/11	24
2025/10	20
2025/09	19
2025/08	29
2025/07	34
2025/06	21
2025/05	29
2025/04	30
2025/03	30
2025/02	19
2025/01	29

Health in El Arenal

El Arenal has 9 health facilities, including 0 hospitals, 9 health centers and 0 clinics. View complete list of health facilities.

Main Localities of El Arenal

Locality	Population	Altitude (m)
El Arenal	12,438	1,400
La Cima [Fraccionamiento]	2,981	1,396
Santa Cruz del Astillero	2,293	1,433
Huaxtla	1,985	1,416
Colonia Cuisillos (Huaxtla de Orendain)	428	1,430
Emiliano Zapata	251	1,470
Padre Castro	94	1,434
Haciendas de Huaxtla	93	1,423
El Roble	90	1,459
El Panchote	80	1,400

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