La Rioja: population and official figures
In depth
- Economy, jobs and prices in La Rioja: The unemployment rate in La Rioja was 4.5% in the second quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 7th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; it was 5.3% a year earlier, so it is down 0.8 percentage points. The rate for all 31 survey areas was 7.9%.
- Health in La Rioja: 36.1% of people in La Rioja had no health cover that they pay for or that is deducted from their pay (no social insurance, private plan or public plan) in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH); that is 10th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site. The figure for all 31 survey areas was 34.1%.
- Education in La Rioja: 98.0% of children aged 4 to 17 in La Rioja were attending school in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 12th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; the rate for all 31 survey areas was 96.8%.
- Poverty and living standards in La Rioja: 38.4% of people in La Rioja lived below the poverty line in the first half of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 7th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; across the 31 survey areas the rate was 32.3%. That is about 93,000 people.
What is the population of La Rioja?
The La Rioja urban area, which this site calls La Rioja, had an estimated 243,000 residents in the second quarter of 2026 in INDEC's Permanent Household Survey (EPH), 9th smallest of 30 Argentine cities on this site. It is 0.8% of the 30,158,000 people living in the 31 urban areas the survey covers.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyHow many people live in a household in La Rioja?
La Rioja had an estimated 77,818 private households in the first quarter of 2026, an average of 3.11 people per household, 9th largest of 30 Argentine cities on this site on household size; the figure for all 31 survey areas is 2.95.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyHow many children live in La Rioja?
21.5% of residents of La Rioja were under 15 in the first quarter of 2026, 10th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site (all 31 survey areas: 22.2%).
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyHow many people work in La Rioja?
Of the 243,000 residents of La Rioja, 112,000 were in the labour force in the second quarter of 2026 (107,000 employed and 5,000 unemployed), a participation rate of 46.0%.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyWho runs La Rioja?
In Argentina, cities and towns are run by provinces: Governor and provincial legislature directly elected; Buenos Aires City elects its own head of government (jefe de gobierno) and legislature. Write their own constitutions, run police, schools, hospitals, courts and set the rules for their municipalities.
How local power works in Argentina
Cities of a similar size in Argentina
- Santa Fé 558,000
- Resistencia 430,000
- Santiago del Estero-La Banda 423,000
- Corrientes 397,000
- Posadas 397,000
- San Salvador de Jujuy-Palpalá 366,000
- Neuquén-Plottier 330,000
- Bahía Blanca-Cerri 324,000
- Paraná 289,000
- Formosa 268,000
- Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly 263,000
- San Luis - El Chorrillo 256,000
- Catamarca 237,000
- San Nicolás-Villa Constitución 201,000
- Río Cuarto 185,000
- Ushuaia-Río Grande 184,000
Up a level: all cities in Argentina · Argentina · government and power
Sources
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC): Mercado de trabajo. Tasas e indicadores socioeconómicos (EPH), segundo trimestre de 2026 (Tables 3.2 and 3.3), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b0a700bac4db…)
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC): Encuesta Permanente de Hogares (EPH): bases de microdatos usuarias, individual y hogar, primer trimestre de 2026 (figures computed with the survey weights), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d9d23945d4b1…)
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC): Incidencia de la pobreza y la indigencia en 31 aglomerados urbanos, primer semestre de 2026 (Tables 4.1 and 4.2), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d944f84c823a…)
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