São Caetano do Sul is part of the metropolitan region of São Paulo. It has a population of 160,000 in acondenced area of 6 square miles. São Caetano is the city with the highest per capita income in Brazil (US$31,322.00 in 2010) as well as the highest Human Development Index.
São Caetano do Sul boasts the highest social indicators anywhere in the country (even if using indexes such as those that compute the HDI formula). Illiteracy rates are very low and most people enjoy a safe city with well-maintained infrastructure. São Caetano has no favelas, with the closest one bordering Heliópolis, São Paulo’s largest favela, next to a large Petrobras oil distribution and storage facility in nearby Ipiranga. Such border areas between São Caetano and adjacent cities São Bernardo do Campo and Santo André are prone to flooding which happens often, especially in the more impoverished areas bordering the city of São Paulo, where the Meninos creek (a tributary of the heavily polluted Tamanduateí river) is often littered with construction debris and garbage, exacerbating the flooding effect in the rainy season (Oct–Feb).
The city is served by a comprehensive network of bus routes that also connects São Caetano to its neighboring towns. There is also one commuter train line (operated by CPTM) that connects the city to São Paulo and its neighbors to the south, Santo André and Mauá.
