Is Mexico a good place to live as an expat?

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Why are so many expats still choosing Mexico today?

Mexico is currently one of the strongest expat destinations in the world because foreigners keep rating the actual experience of living there far better than Mexico’s problems would suggest.

The latest InterNations Expat Insider survey puts Mexico 2nd out of 31 destinations overall. Mexico ranks 1st for Ease of Settling In, 3rd for Personal Finance, 6th for Expat Essentials and 10th for Working Abroad. The weak spot is much easier to see in the Quality of Life ranking, where Mexico sits 16th, dragged down mainly by safety, the urban environment and air quality.

The satisfaction numbers are more revealing than the league table. InterNations found that 85% of expats in Mexico are happy with their life there, compared with 70% globally. Some 38% expect to stay forever, against a 27% global average.

Social integration is particularly unusual. Mexico ranks 1st for local friendliness, finding friends and culture and welcome. Eighty-four percent of foreign residents surveyed describe Mexicans as friendly toward expats, while 73% say making local friends is easy. Globally, only 39% say the same.

That helps explain why Mexico survives weaknesses that would sink many other expat destinations. People are accepting more security problems and more administrative friction because daily life, friendships, food, climate and purchasing power often compensate for them.

Current expat question	What the evidence says	Mexico’s strength	Main catch
Are expats happy there?	85% say yes	Very strong	Survey population is self-selecting
Is settling in easy?	Mexico ranks 1st	Exceptional	Spanish matters more over time
Does foreign income go far?	Mexico ranks 3rd for personal finance	Strong	Prime expat areas cost much more
Is everyday quality of life consistently high?	Mexico ranks 16th	Mixed	Safety and infrastructure pull it down
Do foreigners stay?	38% plan to stay forever	Strong	Mexico suits some profiles far better than others

Is it misleading to ask whether “Mexico” is safe and good for expats?

Yes. Asking whether Mexico is good for expats without naming a city can hide differences large enough to change the answer completely.

The latest INEGI urban-security survey makes that obvious. Across the cities and urban areas measured, 59.8% of adults said they felt unsafe where they lived. In Mexico City’s Benito Juárez borough, the figure was only 17.4%. Mérida was around 38%. At the other extreme, Irapuato was above 90%.

Those are different lifestyles inside the same country.

The U.S. State Department reaches a similar conclusion from another angle. Mexico carries a national “exercise increased caution” advisory, while individual states range from relatively low concern to recommendations against travel. Yucatán and Campeche remain among the least concerning states under the current advisory system, whereas several states face much stronger warnings.

Housing produces another huge geographic split. Someone renting in Mérida Centro can encounter asking rents around the low-to-mid MXN 10,000s, while a newcomer targeting Condesa in Mexico City or a desirable part of Puerto Vallarta can easily face more than MXN 30,000 a month.

Is Mexico still cheap for expats right now?

Mexico is still good value for many foreign-income households, but the famous version of “cheap Mexico” is disappearing from the neighborhoods foreigners most often choose.

The latest InterNations survey still gives Mexico an impressive 3rd place worldwide for Personal Finance. Eighty-one percent of respondents say their disposable household income is enough or more than enough to live comfortably, compared with 71% globally. Seventy-three percent are satisfied with their financial situation, versus 55% worldwide.

That tells us affordability remains real at the household level.

Mexico City shows how quickly the picture changes once we zoom into prime neighborhoods. Inmuebles24’s latest rental index puts the average advertised rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the capital at roughly MXN 21,900 per month. Since the rental market turned upward in late 2021, that index has risen about 64%.

Hipódromo de la Condesa now sits around MXN 38,400 per month in the same dataset. At the other end, Pantitlán is closer to MXN 10,900.

A foreigner comparing Condesa with Brooklyn, Toronto or central London may still find MXN 38,000 attractive. A Mexican earning a local salary sees a completely different number. That gap helps explain why Mexico can rank among the world’s best countries for expat finances while anger over housing affordability keeps growing.

Which Mexican cities give expats the best value today?

Mérida and Querétaro currently give expats some of Mexico’s cleanest cost-versus-comfort trade-offs, while Mexico City and Guadalajara become much better value when people stop insisting on the most fashionable neighborhoods.

Mérida remains compelling because lower housing costs overlap with unusually favorable security perceptions by Mexican standards. Central asking rents can still sit around the low-to-mid MXN 10,000s, although upscale northern districts cost much more. The drawback is obvious once summer arrives: Mérida’s heat and humidity can be brutal.

Querétaro has become more expensive, yet it combines modern housing, a large professional economy, newer infrastructure and relatively reassuring security perceptions. It is less exciting than Mexico City for nightlife and culture, and a car is harder to avoid.

Guadalajara is the more interesting option for someone who wants serious restaurants, nightlife, technology companies and a younger urban scene. Areas such as Americana and Providencia now command substantial rents, but Guadalajara still provides more ways to live near the action without paying Mexico City’s highest premiums.

Mexico City remains the best value for people who actually use what a megacity offers: museums, food, professional networks, international flights, concerts and huge neighborhood variety. Paying Condesa prices just to work from an apartment and visit the same few cafés weakens the case considerably.

Puerto Vallarta and central San Miguel de Allende now belong in a different category. Both are extremely easy places for foreigners to enter socially, but their success has created a visible expat premium.

Place	Current housing signal	Biggest advantage	Biggest compromise	Value today
Mérida Centro	Low-to-mid MXN 10,000s	Cost + relative security	Heat	Strong
Querétaro	Often high MXN 10,000s to mid-20,000s	Practical daily life	Car dependence	Strong
Guadalajara, central areas	Around MXN 20,000+ in popular districts	Big-city culture	Security varies	Good
Mexico City average	~MXN 21,900 for 2 bedrooms	Huge range of opportunities	Pollution, traffic, prime rents	Good if neighborhood choice is smart
Condesa	~MXN 38,400	Walkability and lifestyle	Heavy premium	Expensive
Puerto Vallarta	Often MXN 30,000+ in desirable areas	Beach + mature expat scene	Tourism pricing	Expensive

Is crime serious enough to rule out living in Mexico, and are popular expat cities actually safer?

No. Crime is serious enough that security has to shape where an expat lives, but several popular expat areas are far safer than Mexico’s national image suggests.

Mexico’s national security picture has improved recently. Preliminary official statistics for 2025, published by the federal security authorities using INEGI homicide data, showed intentional homicide down 16% from 2024.

Urban insecurity perceptions have also eased. INEGI’s latest survey puts the share of adults who feel unsafe in their city at 59.8%, down from 63.2% a year earlier.

A country where roughly six in ten urban residents still feel unsafe clearly has a security problem. The latest InterNations survey reaches the same conclusion from the foreign-resident side: Mexico ranks 25th out of 31 destinations for Safety & Security, and only 68% of expats rate their personal safety positively, versus 81% globally.

Puerto Vallarta deserves more caution now. Its latest perceived-insecurity reading reached roughly 65%, compared with about 27% a year earlier. One survey reading should not be turned into a crime-wave narrative, but a swing of that size is too large to keep repeating the old “Vallarta is one of Mexico’s safe bubbles” line without qualification.

San Miguel de Allende is another case where local experience and state-level statistics point in different directions. The city has a mature international community and many foreigners live there comfortably, while Guanajuato state has one of Mexico’s tougher security environments. Road travel outside the expat core deserves more attention than San Miguel’s relaxed center might suggest.

Place	Latest perceived insecurity	How we read it	What it means for an expat
Benito Juárez, CDMX	17.4%	Exceptionally low for Mexico	Strong security case
Mérida	~38%	Clearly below national average	One of the safer major options
Querétaro	Well below national average	Relatively reassuring	Strong family/professional option
Mexican urban average	59.8%	Still high	National averages remain worrying
Puerto Vallarta	~65%	Sharp deterioration from a year earlier	Re-check current local conditions
Irapuato	Above 90%	Extremely poor perception	Hard to recommend to most expats

Is private healthcare in Mexico good enough for expats?

Yes. Private healthcare in Mexico is good enough for most expats in the main cities, although anyone with serious or recurring medical needs should budget for insurance rather than assuming every treatment will stay cheap.

The contrast between Mexico’s national health system and the private expat experience is huge.

OECD data show Mexico spending roughly USD 1,588 per person on healthcare in purchasing-power-adjusted terms, versus almost USD 6,000 across the OECD. Mexico has about 2.7 practicing doctors per 1,000 people compared with 3.9 across the OECD, and three practicing nurses compared with 9.2. Hospital-bed capacity is also among the lowest in the OECD.

Those figures explain why access and capacity can be uneven nationally. They do not mean Mexico lacks excellent medicine.

Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro, Mérida and several other large cities have sophisticated private hospitals, specialists, diagnostics and dental care. For consultations, imaging, dentistry and many routine procedures, foreigners earning in dollars or euros often find the private system both accessible and inexpensive compared with the United States.

The calculation changes with cancer treatment, major heart surgery, a long hospitalization or years of chronic care. Costs can climb rapidly, and advanced specialists are concentrated in larger cities.

For retirees, a city with good tertiary healthcare nearby can eventually matter more than an extra bedroom or a sea view.

Healthcare issue	Mexico today	Practical reading for expats	Main risk
Routine private consultations	Strong in major cities	Usually easy to access	Costs vary by provider
Dental care and diagnostics	Strong	Often good value	Quality still needs checking
Advanced specialists	Available	Best in large metros	Geographic concentration
Public-system capacity	Weak by OECD standards	Avoid assuming uniform access	Waiting times and uneven resources
Serious private treatment	Available	Insurance becomes important	Large bills can accumulate quickly

Is getting residency in Mexico still easy for expats?

Mexico still has a relatively straightforward path to long-term residency, although today’s financial requirements are high enough that “easy residency” no longer means “almost anyone qualifies.”

Temporary residence normally covers foreigners planning to stay longer than 180 days and can generally be renewed up to a four-year limit before permanent residency becomes relevant.

Economic solvency is where the process has become more demanding. Mexican consulates set thresholds using official formulas, but the dollar amount changes with exchange rates and consular interpretation. Current U.S. consular guidance gives a useful range: several posts are asking for roughly USD 4,200 to USD 4,400 in monthly qualifying income, or around USD 70,000 to USD 73,000 in qualifying balances for temporary residence.

Permanent residence through economic solvency requires considerably more. Some current consular guidance puts qualifying monthly pension income around USD 7,000 to USD 7,600 or financial assets around USD 280,000 to USD 304,000, although applicants can also qualify through family links and other routes.

Remote workers have a workable route within this system. Some Mexican consulates explicitly ask employees applying through economic solvency to provide confirmation that their employer allows them to live in Mexico and work remotely.

Mexico still does not have a dedicated digital-nomad visa with that branding. For a foreign employee paid abroad, temporary residence through economic solvency is usually the more relevant framework.

Status	What it is useful for	Current financial signal at several U.S. consulates	Main catch
Visitor	Short stays	No residency solvency test	Poor long-term strategy
Temporary resident	Living in Mexico beyond 180 days	Roughly USD 4.2k–4.4k monthly income or ~USD 70k–73k assets	Consular thresholds vary
Permanent resident	Indefinite residence	Much higher economic-solvency threshold	Harder for younger applicants
Family-based residence	Joining qualifying relatives	Different requirements	Requires eligible family relationship

Have expats made Mexico City too expensive, and are Mexicans still welcoming to foreigners?

Expats have helped push prices up in a few Mexico City neighborhoods, but Mexico remains exceptionally welcoming to foreigners and the housing problem is much bigger than foreign arrivals alone.

The neighborhood effect is easy to see. The citywide asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment is now about MXN 21,900 in Inmuebles24’s index, up roughly 64% from the market’s 2021 turning point. Hipódromo de la Condesa is around MXN 38,400.

Foreign remote workers can compete for those apartments using salaries set in New York, California, Toronto or London. Short-term rental demand adds another source of pressure. In areas such as Roma Norte and Condesa, that combination is visible enough to have become part of the political debate around gentrification.

Mexico City has already tightened rules around short-term accommodation, while housing affordability and displacement have become recurring subjects in local politics.

Foreign demand is still only one part of a much larger problem. Mexico City also has limited well-located housing, decades of planning constraints, strong domestic migration, construction costs, land scarcity in desirable central areas and huge differences between where jobs are located and where cheaper housing is available.

The social evidence is much more positive. The latest InterNations results put Mexico 1st worldwide for Ease of Settling In. Eighty-seven percent of surveyed expats say they feel welcome, 84% feel at home, 84% describe locals as friendly toward foreigners and 73% say making local friends is easy.

Is Mexico reliable enough for remote work and normal daily life?

Mexico’s major cities are now perfectly workable for remote work, while water, streets, bureaucracy and public services remain much less predictable than the internet connection itself.

Fast home internet is easy to find in the main expat markets, particularly in buildings connected to fiber networks. Mexico’s fixed-broadband speeds have continued to improve quickly over the past few years, making video calls, cloud work and large file transfers routine in good urban neighborhoods.

The friction increasingly appears outside the laptop.

INEGI’s latest urban survey found 83% of residents identifying potholes and damaged streets as a problem in their city. Roughly two-thirds mentioned water leaks or failures in the potable-water network. Only around three in ten considered their local government effective at solving the urban problems they regularly encounter.

Foreign residents pick up the administrative side as well. InterNations still gives Mexico a solid overall Expat Essentials ranking, but dealing with bureaucracy, opening accounts and navigating some government procedures can be frustrating.

A remote worker choosing an apartment should therefore ask about the building before obsessing over a national internet-speed ranking: Does this address have fiber? Does the building have a water cistern? Are power cuts common? Is mobile backup strong? How often does the neighborhood lose water?

Are Mexico’s heat, pollution and water problems becoming hard to ignore?

Yes. Environmental conditions are now one of the clearest reasons why an expat can love Mexico and still choose the wrong Mexican city.

The latest InterNations survey captures the contradiction nicely. Mexico ranks 1st for climate and weather, while its urban environment ranks 30th and air quality 28th.

Mexico City offers mild temperatures for much of the year because of its altitude, yet the same geography contributes to pollution episodes. Mérida has cleaner-feeling daily life and strong security credentials but months of intense heat and humidity. Monterrey combines an important economy with recurring air-quality concerns. Coastal communities add hurricanes, humidity and salt damage to buildings and cars.

Water deserves its own attention. Mexico City’s Cutzamala reservoir system has recovered sharply from the severe drought conditions that previously generated “Day Zero” headlines. Recent storage levels have been dramatically healthier after strong rainfall.

That recovery reduces the immediate crisis narrative around the capital. Long-term groundwater depletion, leaky distribution networks and local shortages are still very real. Two people living a few kilometers apart can have completely different water experiences because one building has adequate cistern capacity and another does not.

Is Mexico a good place for expat families and retirees?

Mexico is particularly strong for foreign-income families and financially comfortable retirees, although both groups need to choose around healthcare, schooling and security rather than around postcard appeal.

Families can get a lot from Mexico. Domestic life is socially oriented, restaurants and public spaces are generally child-friendly, private healthcare is widely available in larger cities, and families earning abroad can often afford more space or household help than they could at home.

Mérida and Querétaro stand out for families because relatively favorable security perceptions overlap with modern residential areas and decent private services. Mexico City is stronger for museums, international schools, cultural activities and specialist medicine, but traffic can dominate family routines if home and school are badly matched.

Schooling can erase a large part of Mexico’s apparent affordability. Premium international schools are priced for affluent households, and the real family budget should include tuition, housing near the school, transport, health insurance and trips home.

Retirees fit Mexico exceptionally well for a different reason. The newest InterNations survey finds that 32% of expat respondents in Mexico are already retired, compared with only 14% globally. Mexico has mature retirement ecosystems in places such as San Miguel de Allende, Ajijic, Puerto Vallarta and Mérida, with doctors accustomed to foreign patients and established social communities.

Current residency rules also tend to favor people with substantial pensions or savings.

Which Mexican city fits each type of expat best?

Mexico City is currently the strongest choice for expats who want maximum culture and opportunity, while Mérida, Querétaro, Guadalajara and established retirement towns each solve a different problem better.

Mexico City is the obvious choice for someone who wants a genuine global city. Restaurants, museums, professional networks, international flights and neighborhood variety are on another level. Benito Juárez also proves that parts of the capital can feel dramatically safer than Mexico’s national reputation suggests. Pollution, traffic and central rents are the price.

Mérida is the easier recommendation for someone prioritizing calm daily life, relative security and lower housing costs. The trade-off is a smaller professional ecosystem and extreme heat for part of the year.

Querétaro works particularly well for families and professionals who value newer housing, industry and practical infrastructure. It feels more orderly than many Mexican cities, although daily life can be car-heavy.

Guadalajara is probably the strongest alternative for younger expats who find Mexico City overwhelming. It has a major restaurant and nightlife scene, a serious technology economy and plenty of attractive central neighborhoods, while security varies sharply enough that address-level research still matters.

San Miguel de Allende and Ajijic work well for people who actively want an established foreign community. Puerto Vallarta does the same for beach-focused expats, although housing costs and its latest security-perception numbers weaken a recommendation that once required fewer caveats.

Expat profile	Best fit	Why it works	Main compromise
Young remote professional	Mexico City / Guadalajara	Culture, nightlife, networks	Rent and security variation
Family	Mérida / Querétaro	Space, calmer daily life, relative security	Heat or car dependence
Career-focused professional	Mexico City / Guadalajara / Querétaro	Larger professional economies	Commutes and local salaries
Retiree	Mérida / San Miguel / Ajijic	Community + private healthcare access	Expat premiums
Beach-focused expat	Puerto Vallarta	Mature international community	Cost + recent security concerns
Maximum-value seeker	Mérida / secondary CDMX or Guadalajara neighborhoods	Lower housing premium	Fewer expat conveniences

Who will probably hate living in Mexico?

People who need very low crime, predictable bureaucracy and uniformly reliable public services are the most likely to regret moving to Mexico.

Security awareness becomes part of normal life in a way that someone arriving from Japan, Singapore, Switzerland or a particularly safe part of northern Europe may find tiring. Even residents who feel comfortable often change routes, avoid certain roads after dark or pay much more attention to neighborhoods than they did at home.

Administrative inconsistency bothers another type of expat. Government offices, immigration procedures, banks, utilities and landlords do not always operate with the same level of standardization people expect from highly digitized countries.

Mexico also becomes frustrating when someone wants the benefits of living abroad without adapting much. An English-only lifestyle is possible in several foreign-heavy neighborhoods, but it is narrower, more expensive and increasingly disconnected from the social experience that expats rate so highly.

Has living in Mexico actually become better or worse for expats lately?

Living in Mexico has become more expensive and politically sensitive in its most famous expat neighborhoods, yet the overall expat proposition is still remarkably strong.

Several current indicators have moved in Mexico’s favor. National homicide data for 2025 showed a 16% decline from the previous year. Urban insecurity perceptions have also fallen year over year. Internet infrastructure keeps improving. Mexico has moved into the top ten for working abroad in the latest InterNations ranking.

The biggest negative shift is housing. Mexico City’s two-bedroom rental index is around 64% above its late-2021 level, and the premium inside Condesa, Roma and other internationally popular areas has become difficult to ignore. Similar foreign-demand effects appear in Puerto Vallarta and central San Miguel de Allende.

The cultural mood around foreign residents has changed slightly as well. Mexico remains extraordinarily welcoming in surveys, but conversations about gentrification, short-term rentals and dollar-earning newcomers are much more visible than they were a few years ago.

As pointed out above, security also refuses to move neatly in one direction. National homicide indicators have improved while a destination such as Puerto Vallarta has recently posted much worse perceptions of local insecurity.

So, is Mexico a good place to live as an expat?

Yes. Mexico is currently a very good place to live as an expat, and for people with foreign income who choose their city carefully, the evidence supports an even stronger verdict: it can be one of the best all-round options available.

The latest expat data are unusually convincing. Mexico ranks 2nd overall in InterNations’ newest survey, 1st for Ease of Settling In and 3rd for Personal Finance. Eighty-five percent of foreign respondents say they are happy living there, while 38% expect to remain permanently.

Those results fit the broader evidence. Mexico offers a huge choice of climates and cities, strong private healthcare in major metros, improving digital infrastructure, accessible long-term residency for financially qualified applicants, exceptional food and cultural life, and a social environment where foreigners appear to make local friends far more easily than they do in most countries.

The price of that lifestyle is real. Mexico ranks poorly for safety, infrastructure can be frustrating, tax residency needs proper attention, and several famous foreign enclaves have lost much of their old affordability. Environmental trade-offs are also substantial, whether the problem is Mexico City pollution, Mérida heat, coastal hurricanes or unreliable water infrastructure.

City selection changes the equation more than almost anything else. Benito Juárez, Mérida, Querétaro, central Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and a high-crime industrial city can all produce completely different answers to the same question.

For foreign-income professionals, socially active retirees and families willing to choose carefully, Mexico’s combination of lifestyle, community and purchasing power is hard to beat right now. People who demand European-level public safety, highly predictable administration or a permanently cheap English-speaking bubble should look elsewhere.

Who is the author of this content?

THE LATINVESTOR

A team specialized in real estate investing in LATAM countries

We are a team of financial experts, legal professionals, developers, and local real estate specialists dedicated to helping people like you avoid mistakes when investing in real estate in a foreign place, particularly in Mexico. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can check our presentation page.