The PPP ranking reflects local cost of living, which is comparatively low in PR. In nominal terms, it's below NZ and Israel and just ahead of South korea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi...
Re:The Media Has Neglected Puerto Rico
by emodendroket on Monday October 02, 2017 @10:36PM
(#15389701)
Well, still, nobody thinks of South Korea as a poor country, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)...
According to these sources it also beats South Korea, New Zealand, and Israel, which frankly surprised me a bit.