Guam

Economy & income

Currency: US Dollar (USD, $)
it IS the US dollar — Guam is an unincorporated US territory, so 1:1, no FX (Jul 2026)
GDP per capita: ~$41,833 nominal (2022, US BEA Territorial Accounts — latest published; total GDP ~$6.91B/2022)
PPP n/a — Guam is a US territory, not in IMF WEO or World Bank PPP series
Average salary: ~$3,850/mo gross (US BLS mean wage $22.21/hr × ~173h, May 2025)
salary trackers ~$2,800/mo gross (wage.is, 2026)
net ~$3,000/mo est.
Median salary: ~$52,000–55,950/yr household ≈ ~$4,330–4,660/mo (wage.is/unbiased, 2025–26)
per-worker median n/a (BLS Guam publishes means, not individual medians)
Minimum wage: $9.25/hr (unchanged since 2021; US Dept of Labor / FRED, 2025) ≈ ~$1,600/mo gross at 40h/wk
Cost of living: High (island imports drive prices up; US-territory pricing)
Numbeo Guam coverage is thin — few contributors, flag as low-confidence (2025–26)

Digital landscape

Population: 168,000 (Jan 2025, DataReportal)
US Census 153,836 (2020), ~167,777 (2024 est)
Internet users: 80.5% (~136,000 users, Jan 2025)
Social media users: 65.2% (~110,000 identities, Jan 2025)
Mobile connections: 198,000 cellular connections = 118% of population (Jan 2025)
Devices: mobile ~52.9% / desktop ~45.1% / tablet ~2.0% (StatCounter, Jun 2026) — desktop unusually high for a 'Tier-3' label, reflecting US-territory usage
Ad spend: n/a — DataReportal publishes no standalone Guam ad-spend figure
Guam is folded into US ad geo (too small to break out at ~168K pop)
Digital ad spend n/a for the same reason
Top social platforms: Facebook ~110K / 65.2% ad reach; ~66% web-referral share — dominant

Instagram ~94.7K / 56.2% ad reach

LinkedIn ~92K / 54.6% — unusually high, driven by US military/professional base

Pinterest ~41.5K / 24.6% ad reach; ~15% web-referral share

YouTube — near-universal video use; no local ad-reach figure published

TikTok — popular, esp. under-30; no local ad-reach figure published
Messengers: Facebook Messenger (~81.3K / 48.3% — primary chat app)
iMessage/SMS (default on iOS-majority devices)
WhatsApp (used, esp. Filipino diaspora / overseas family)
Instagram DM
Note: US-style messaging — NO mobile-money apps (no M-Pesa equivalent; card/bank economy)

Ad regulations

Gambling & betting Banned

BANNED — most gambling illegal under 9 GCA Ch. 64; only charitable bingo/raffles and limited pari-mutuel allowed; casinos prohibited (2019 rules criminalized gaming machines). Online gambling not explicitly addressed — grey area

Crypto Allowed

ALLOWED — no Guam-specific crypto statute; US federal FinCEN/OFAC MSB rules (AML/KYC) apply; 2025 federal GENIUS Act (stablecoins) opens new territory opportunities

Adult Restricted

RESTRICTED — US obscenity Miller test applies; prostitution illegal (9 GCA Ch. 28 Public Indecency); 18+ enforcement; explicit ads limited on mainstream platforms

Dating Allowed

ALLOWED — no Guam-specific restriction; standard US ad-platform policies apply

Finance & loans Restricted

RESTRICTED — money-lending requires a license via Guam Dept of Revenue & Taxation (Regulatory Division); US consumer-finance rules (TILA, FTC) apply

Nutra & pharma Restricted

RESTRICTED — US FDA/FTC rules apply federally; health/supplement claims policed by Guam AG Consumer Protection Division + FDA

Regulators

Office of the Attorney General of Guam — Consumer Protection Division
Guam Dept of Revenue & Taxation (Regulatory Division)
US FTC/FDA/FinCEN apply federally

Notes

Guam is an unincorporated US territory: US federal law (FTC Act, FDA, CAN-SPAM, COPPA, TCPA, FinCEN) applies alongside the Guam Consumer Protection Act (5 GCA Ch. 32)
Compliance is US-grade — NOT a lax Tier-3 grey-zone
false-advertising enforcement is active

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods: Visa / Mastercard / Amex / Discover credit & debit cards (dominant — US card economy)
Apple Pay & Google Pay contactless (growing; Bank of Guam contactless since 2018–19)
PayPal
ACH / direct bank transfer
Cash (in-person)
E-wallets: Apple Pay
Google Pay
PayPal
Venmo / Cash App (US P2P apps)
Cash on delivery: Negligible — US electronic/card economy
cash-on-delivery is NOT a norm here (unlike typical Tier-3 markets)
E-commerce: High online-shopping appetite for a small market
USPS treats Guam as US-domestic so Amazon/eBay/Walmart ship
Temu surged (free shipping, cheap goods)
Shein popular
Limited local retail variety pushes residents online
Notes: Card-first, US-style rails
Local processors (e.g. GuamPayments, Bank of Guam merchant services)
No dominant local wallet or mobile-money scheme

Audience & culture

Languages: English (~43.3% spoken at home; most widely understood, official)
Filipino/Tagalog (~24.9%)
Chamorro/CHamoru (~16%, indigenous, official)
Other Pacific Island languages (~9.4%)
Asian languages incl. Korean/Japanese/Chinese (~6.5%)
Religion: Roman Catholic ~85–88% (Vatican 2020: 87.7% Catholic)
total Christian ~94%
small Protestant/other minorities
Median age: 31.5 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025); ~30.6 (US Census 2020)
Key seasons: Liberation Day (Jul 21 — biggest annual event: parade, carnival, memorials on Marine Corps Drive)
Village patron-saint fiestas (year-round across 19 villages)
Christmas (peak gifting/shopping/lights)
Mes CHamoru / Chamorro Heritage Month (March)
Typhoon season (Jul–Nov — disrupts logistics & events)
Cultural notes: Tight-knit family/village (fiesta) culture
strong US pop-culture affinity blended with Filipino, Korean and Japanese influence
heavy Facebook usage
large US military community
brand-name/US-product affinity
overseas-family remittance ties
Where to find creators: Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube
StarNgage (local rankings)

Media landscape

Top media outlets

1 Pacific Daily News English; oldest daily (since 1950), online-first, Gannett-owned — leading legacy outlet
2 The Guam Daily Post English; daily broadsheet — fast-growing #2 newspaper
3 KUAM News English; top broadcast news (CBS/NBC affiliate) + strong online/YouTube presence
4 Pacific News Center (PNC) English; TV/radio/online news network
5 Marianas Business Journal English; fortnightly business broadsheet — regional/Micronesia coverage
6 Kandit News English; independent online news/commentary

Top YouTube channels

1 KUAM News (@kuamnews) ~45K est.
2 Pacific Daily News (Guam PDN) ~12K est.
3 PNC Guam (@pncnews) ~10K est.
4 The Guam Daily Post ~8K est.
5 GSPN (Guam Sports Network) ~15K est.
6 Guam Visitors Bureau ~5K est.

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Pia Mia ~9.8M Instagram

InstagramSinger/songwriter & actress, born in Guam — the island's biggest global star; music/fashion/beauty brand fit

DPR Live ~1M Instagram

InstagramKorean rapper (DPR / DABIN), raised in Guam 13 years; K-hip-hop & DPR collective — youth/music appeal

Jeff Cobb ~104K Instagram

InstagramPro wrestler (NJPW/AEW) & 2004 Olympian, Guam-raised; sports/fitness/combat brand fit

F

Frank Camacho ~64K Instagram

InstagramFormer UFC fighter 'The Crank', born in Guam; MMA/fitness/martial-arts brand fit

Celebrities

Ann Curry n/a (broadcast/press figure, not IG-driven)

Veteran US TV journalist/anchor (NBC Today), born in Agana (Hagåtña), Guam

Donovan Patton n/a (screen actor, modest IG)

Actor/host — Joe on Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues; born on a US military base in Guam

R

Ricardo Blas Jr. n/a

Olympic judoka (2008, 2012) — the heaviest athlete in modern Olympic history; from Guam

Sean Reid-Foley ~15K Instagram (est.)

MLB pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays, NY Mets), born in Guam

Lou Leon Guerrero n/a (political figure)

Governor of Guam (since 2019); first woman to hold the office

Madeleine Bordallo n/a (political figure)

Former Guam Delegate to the US House of Representatives (2003–2019)

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals: E-commerce / retail arbitrage (Temu, Amazon, Shein)
Travel & tourism (Japan/Korea inbound + outbound)
Mobile apps & games
Sweepstakes / giveaways
US finance (cards, loans, insurance)
Nutra / wellness (US-compliant)
Active networks: Amazon Associates
CJ Affiliate
Rakuten Advertising
Impact
ShareASale / Awin
ClickBank
MaxBounty (US CPA)
Payouts: US-tier payouts — Guam bills as US geo, so CPA/CPL/eCPM sit near US rates (NOT discounted Tier-3). eCPMs align with US (~$5–15 social; higher for finance/insurance)
The real constraint is audience size, not payout
Competition: Low absolute volume (tiny ~168K population) but affluent, English-speaking US-territory traffic — a niche, not a scale play
Seasonality: Q4 Christmas gifting
Liberation Day (July)
US tax-refund season (spring)
tourism-driven peaks (Japanese/Korean holidays)
Traffic sources: Facebook / Meta Ads (dominant)
Google Search & YouTube
TikTok Ads
Instagram

Good to know

Capital: Hagåtña (Agana)
Major cities: Dededo (largest village)
Tamuning (commercial hub; Tumon tourist/hotel district)
Mangilao
Yigo
Barrigada
Hagåtña (capital)
Time zones: Chamorro Standard Time (ChST), UTC+10, no DST — single zone
Guam is a day 'ahead' of the US mainland
Android vs iOS: 44% 56%

Android 44% iOS 56%
Phone brands: Apple (~55.9%)
Samsung (~29.8%)
Motorola (~1.3%)
Oppo (~1.3%)
Google (~1.1%)
Top e-commerce: Amazon (ships to Guam as US-domestic via USPS)
Temu (surging — free shipping, low prices)
Shein
eBay
Walmart (ship-to-Guam)
Pay-Less Supermarkets / Micronesia Mall (local, largely in-store)
Peak activity: Evenings ~7–10pm ChST and weekends; remember Guam runs UTC+10 (a day ahead of US mainland) — schedule to local, not US, clocks
Creative taboos: Respect Chamorro/CHamoru heritage and Catholic values
WWII/Liberation Day and Japanese-occupation history are sensitive
military-base & self-determination tensions exist
avoid tired 'where is Guam?' jokes
family-oriented tone lands best
Also worth knowing: Guam is a US territory that bills as US ad geo — Tier-1 payouts, USD, card payments, iOS-heavy — NOT a classic low-payout Tier-3; the limiter is tiny volume (~168K), not cheap CPMs.
Tourism-heavy economy (mainly Japanese & Korean visitors) — travel/retail affiliate angle, though arrivals still recovering post-COVID.
Large US military footprint (Andersen AFB, Naval Base Guam) = affluent, English-speaking US-consumer segment; ongoing buildup.
The Temu/online-shopping boom shows strong cross-border e-commerce appetite despite the small population