Santiago del Estero-La Banda: population and official figures
In depth
- Economy, jobs and prices in Santiago del Estero-La Banda: The unemployment rate in Santiago del Estero-La Banda was 0.9% in the second quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), the lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; it was 1.9% a year earlier, so it is down 1.0 percentage points. The rate for all 31 survey areas was 7.9%.
- Health in Santiago del Estero-La Banda: 43.4% of people in Santiago del Estero-La Banda 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 4th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site. The figure for all 31 survey areas was 34.1%.
- Education in Santiago del Estero-La Banda: 98.1% of children aged 4 to 17 in Santiago del Estero-La Banda were attending school in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 11th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; the rate for all 31 survey areas was 96.8%.
- Poverty and living standards in Santiago del Estero-La Banda: 38.5% of people in Santiago del Estero-La Banda lived below the poverty line in the first half of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 6th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; across the 31 survey areas the rate was 32.3%. That is about 163,000 people. INDEC flags this estimate as imprecise (coefficient of variation 19.6%).
What is the population of Santiago del Estero-La Banda?
The Santiago del Estero-La Banda urban area, which this site calls Santiago del Estero-La Banda, had an estimated 423,000 residents in the second quarter of 2026 in INDEC's Permanent Household Survey (EPH), 12th largest of 30 Argentine cities on this site. It is 1.4% 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 Santiago del Estero-La Banda?
Santiago del Estero-La Banda had an estimated 129,789 private households in the first quarter of 2026, an average of 3.25 people per household, 6th 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 Santiago del Estero-La Banda?
20.9% of residents of Santiago del Estero-La Banda were under 15 in the first quarter of 2026, 6th 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 Santiago del Estero-La Banda?
Of the 423,000 residents of Santiago del Estero-La Banda, 168,000 were in the labour force in the second quarter of 2026 (167,000 employed and 1,000 unemployed), a participation rate of 39.8%.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyWho runs Santiago del Estero-La Banda?
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
- Buenos Aires 16,270,000
- Córdoba 1,618,000
- Rosario 1,368,000
- Mendoza 1,071,000
- La Plata 952,000
- Tucumán-Tafí Viejo 934,000
- Salta 679,000
- Mar del Plata-Batán 674,000
- San Juan 563,000
- Santa Fé 558,000
- Resistencia 430,000
- Corrientes 397,000
- Posadas 397,000
- San Salvador de Jujuy-Palpalá 366,000
- Neuquén-Plottier 330,000
- Bahía Blanca-Cerri 324,000
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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