{"id":19890,"date":"2021-11-04T20:29:38","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T01:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mexplor.co\/?p=19890"},"modified":"2025-08-29T17:19:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T22:19:48","slug":"living-in-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mexplor.co\/es\/living-in-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Pros and Cons of Living in Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Living in Mexico<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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14 pros and cons about living in Mexico<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As with any country in the world, there are both pros and cons of living in Mexico.<\/p>

The pros of living in Mexico are seemingly endless, and in many cases well-known throughout the world: friendly people, great weather, beautiful landscapes, and delicious food.<\/p>

Regarding the cons of living in Mexico, many are common to the developing world, such as environmental problems and overly bureaucratic government institutions.<\/p>

There\u2019s also one big negative: safety. Understanding this \u201cbig con\u201d is crucial to successfully living in Mexico.<\/p>

In this post, I\u2019ll describe the pros and cons of living in Mexico to help you decide whether the benefits of living in the country outweigh the disadvantages.<\/p>

I experienced all of these pros and cons of living in Mexico to varying degrees during the 10 years I spent there. I not only learned a lot during that time, but also had a lot of fun!<\/p>

Let\u2019s start with the 10 best things about living in Mexico.<\/h3>

1. Getting to Know Mexicans<\/span><\/h2>

It\u2019s easy to make friends in Mexico: on the job, in school, or even at a favorite bar or restaurant. And in most cases, when you make a friend, you\u2019ll eventually make at least five more, once you meet that person\u2019s family and other friends.<\/p>

Mexican people are warm and welcoming and always up for a good time.<\/p>

Also, your new friend might become more than just a friend. Indeed, almost all of the foreigners I knew in Mexico were married to a Mexican.<\/p>

2. Eating (and Discovering) Real Mexican Food<\/span><\/h2>

Burritos, nachos, and ground beef \u201chard\u201d tacos may be tasty, but they\u2019re not real Mexican food. Come to Mexico, and you\u2019ll be able to experience one of the world\u2019s finest cuisines in all its variety, vibrancy, and authenticity.<\/p>

\"delicious<\/p>

Ok, you say, but what about the excellent Mexican restaurant in my town, run by a real Mexican chef who uses all the right recipes and ingredients? I\u2019m sure it\u2019s delicious, but how are the prices?<\/p>

Many times when I\u2019ve had \u201creal\u201d Mexican food outside of Mexico, it\u2019s been at a pricey restaurant. (Where I currently live in China, it\u2019s downright expensive.)<\/p>

In Mexico, the best food is at a small neighborhood spot, and for sure one of the greatest advantages of living in Mexico is having that small neighborhood spot just a few steps from your house.<\/p>

3. Travel Opportunities<\/span><\/h2>

If you take a vacation to Mexico, you\u2019ll most likely visit one of the country\u2019s numerous top-tier destinations.<\/p>

But when you live there, you\u2019ll have access to the lesser known spots, such as the mountainside village of Taxco, the surrealistic garden Las Pozas, and the lake of seven colors, Lake Bacalar.<\/p>

These are some of my favorite places in Mexico, but I\u2019d never even heard of them before I moved there.<\/p>

Wherever you live in Mexico, a beach is within driving distance. Chances are, so is a charming small town, a sophisticated urban area, and an ancient archeological site.<\/p>

And not only are there countless interesting places to visit in Mexico, but getting to them is fairly easy.<\/p>

The highways are well developed (if somewhat confusing), and a wide range of public transportation, from luxury buses to no-frills passenger vans, goes practically everywhere in the country.<\/p>

Mexico is a large country, and fortunately it\u2019s also easy, very quick, and relatively inexpensive to travel on Mexico\u2019s domestic airlines, which include Interjet, Volaris, and VivaAerobus. Oftentimes, a one hour flight is cheaper than a 10 or more hour bus trip.<\/p>

4. Amazing Weather<\/span><\/h2>

Much of Mexico, including most large cities, is located on a high plateau called the Central Mexican Plateau. This means that, even though the lowlands are steaming jungle or parched desert, the surrounding highlands are cool and pleasant year-round.<\/p>

\"living<\/p>

Cuernavaca, located about an hour south of Mexico City, is known as the City of the Eternal Spring, a nickname first given by German explorer and polymath Alexander von Humboldt in the 19th century.<\/p>

It\u2019s never too hot and never too cold, but warm and pleasant like spring at all times of the year.<\/p>

Many other Mexican cities could claim this title, including expat favorites San Miguel de Allende and the small towns on Lake Chapala, near Guadalajara. The weather in these places is often a deciding factor for the expats who weighed the pros and cons of living in Mexico and ultimately chose to live there.<\/p>

5. Low Cost of Living<\/span><\/h2>

This advantage to living in Mexico comes with a corresponding con \u2014 low salaries \u2014 which I\u2019ll discuss later in this article.<\/p>

If you\u2019re coming to retire, not work, then for you this will undoubtedly be one of the biggest pros of living in Mexico. Your savings will go a long way, especially for everyday expenses like fresh fruit and vegetables, transportation, and housing.<\/p>

\"best<\/p>

In 2020 (when I last lived in Mexico), a ride on the Mexico City metro cost 25 US cents. A large bag of fresh oranges cost between $1 and $2 USD. A huge taco dinner for two, complete with several rounds of beer, usually cost from $10 to $15 USD \u2014 almost never more than $20.<\/p>

I\u2019ve flown from Mexico City to Cancun for $25 USD, and I\u2019ve stayed a few blocks from the beach in Playa del Carmen at a decent hotel for less than that a night.<\/p>

These are only examples, and you can certainly spend more money on a trip to Mexico. But once you live there, you\u2019ll learn the real price of things, along with where to get the best quality for the best value.<\/p>

6. Excellent Music Scene<\/span><\/h2>

Again, this is only an example. If I were an art lover, I could easily have included \u201cExcellent Art Scene.\u201d<\/p>

Every Mexican City has an art museum, many of them spectacular, and Mexico has produced a huge number of world-class, innovative artists. (I\u2019m somewhat of an art lover, I suppose.)<\/p>

I love music, however, so music is what I really know about. Mexico has music and then some.<\/p>

Not only does Mexico have numerous homegrown musical styles, such as ranchera, banda, and norte\u00f1o, but there\u2019s also a thriving scene of many other kinds of music, including rock, ska, rap, and electronic.<\/p>

What\u2019s really cool about the domestic music scene is when Mexican bands mix popular international styles with Mexican and other Latin American genres.<\/p>

This brought about the development of many Mexican styles too, such as when immigrant Germans brought accordions and polka music to the north of Mexico in the 19th century.<\/p>

Noteworthy proponents of this are Caf\u00e9 Tacuba, an alternative rock band (perhaps the best in Mexico) who also play boleros and norte\u00f1os; Panteon Rococo, who inject ska with reggae, Latin funk and occasionally cumbia; and Nortec, a collective of DJs who mix in banda music (tubas, trumpets, clarinets, etc.) with their EDM.<\/p>

If this all sounds a little overwhelming, you can see the best Mexican bands at one of the many festivals put on yearly. Vive Latino in Mexico City is the largest, and it\u2019s where I\u2019ve seen the three groups I mentioned above along with many more, including international acts.<\/p>

Speaking of which, in Mexico, you can also see your favorite band on a world tour, and often for much cheaper than back home. I\u2019ve seen artists such as the Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, and Metallica from way back in the cheap seats, sometimes for less than $20 USD.<\/p>

And when I see an artist in a smaller theatre, like The National, LCD Soundsystem, or David Byrne, not only are the tickets less expensive than they are in other countries, but they may do something special, like singing a song in Spanish or adding a little Mexican flavor to their show.<\/p>

For instance, during their concerts in Mexico, both Arcade Fire and Foster the People brought out mariachi groups to join them on a song.<\/p>

7. Opportunities for Personal and Professional Growth<\/span><\/h2>

For me, learning Spanish was the most important. Learning to speak Spanish puts many opportunities within my reach: making friends, traveling, discovering new types of food,\u00a0 understanding the culture, discover the day of the dead traditions<\/a> and more.<\/p>

\"places<\/p>

It also opened job opportunities that wouldn\u2019t have been possible had I not learned it, such as translating.<\/p>

It\u2019s even useful for English teachers. Although the most effective classes are taught only in English, if you know Spanish, you\u2019ll have better insight into your students\u2019 mistakes, because they may be simply translating from the corresponding phrase in Spanish.<\/p>

8. Understanding Important Social Issues<\/span><\/h2>

In the book Distant Neighbors<\/em>, author Alan Riding states that no other two countries in the world have such a long border but with so little understanding.<\/p>

Want to understand why people risk their lives to enter the U.S. by crossing a massive desert through dangerous drug gang territory?<\/p>

Well, in Mexico, you can talk to them. You can ask about their experiences, hear their reasons and their stories, and then judge for yourself whether they\u2019re bad people or not.<\/p>

There are many more misunderstood aspects of Mexico, some of them as simple as a holiday, such as Cinco de Mayo. What is it really, and do Mexicans actually celebrate it? When living in Mexico, you will gain a greater understanding of the people and their culture.<\/p>

9. There\u2019s Always Something to Celebrate<\/span><\/h2>

If you look at the calendar, you\u2019ll see that every day has a saint\u2019s birthday.<\/p>

Likewise, every town in Mexico, big and small, has a patron saint. Inevitably, their birthday will be a big several-day party in the town.<\/p>

\"cost<\/p>

This is one of the pros and cons of living in Mexico. It\u2019s a pro for people who like to party, and it\u2019s a con for people who want to sleep, as well as all the dogs who are frightened by the fireworks.<\/p>

Public celebrations aside, once you\u2019ve lived in Mexico for a while and have made some friends, you\u2019ll receive non-stop invitations to weddings, birthdays (especially quinceanera<\/em> parties), baby showers, engagement parties \u2014 you name it, and sometimes by only casual acquaintances.<\/p>

Accept them. You\u2019re bound to have a good time, and it\u2019s yet another opportunity to learn about Mexican culture.<\/p>

Here are 5 Cons of Living in Mexico<\/h3>

As mentioned above, while there are many pros and cons of living in Mexico, several might not apply to everyone. There is a major con of living in Mexico, however, that everyone needs to be aware of, and that\u2019s safety.<\/p>

1. Safety<\/span><\/h2>

The issue of safety in Mexico is impossible to ignore when you\u2019re considering the pros and cons of living in Mexico. It\u2019s also not as straightforward as you may think.<\/p>

\"traveling<\/p>

Some people claim that Mexico is actually safer than many places in the U.S., and others believe that you\u2019ll be kidnapped as soon as you step off the plane. Both are wrong.<\/p>

The first thing to understand is that traveling in Mexico is very different from living in Mexico. Most tourist destinations in Mexico are safe, often precisely because of the tourism.<\/p>

If the criminals robbed tourists, then the tourists would stop coming, and the whole economy of the area would suffer.<\/p>

Regular, non-touristy places in Mexico, even small towns, have high amounts of crime, especially street muggings and home break-ins. Far less common are kidnappings and other more violent crimes, although they do happen.<\/p>

This is true for both big cities and small towns.<\/p>

If you live in Mexico for any extended period of time, you will almost certainly be the victim of crime. It\u2019s unlikely that you\u2019ll be kidnapped or caught in the crossfire of the drug war, but getting mugged or having your house broken into is quite likely.<\/p>

Now, it\u2019s true that these crimes are common in many parts of the world. What\u2019s different about Mexico, and the second important thing to understand, is that when you\u2019re the victim of a crime, there\u2019s nothing you can do about it.<\/p>

The police are useless at best, and at worst, they\u2019re working with the same criminals who robbed you.<\/p>

This is hard for some foreigners to understand. If you get robbed, you can\u2019t go to the police. If your debit card gets stolen, the bank won\u2019t reimburse the money that was taken out. If someone steals your car, your car is gone, period, in many cases even if you have insurance (see Con #3 below).<\/p>

I must add that of course there are some good, honest police officers in Mexico. But they\u2019re the exceptions, and they must surely have a really hard time of it.<\/p>

2. Low Salaries<\/span><\/h2>

My first job interview in Mexico, at an international English school, was going well. The school seemed professional and well organized, and the interviewer clearly wanted to hire me.<\/p>

Then I asked about pay. What he told me shocked me, and honestly still does.<\/p>

The pay was about $3 USD an hour, before taxes, and it didn\u2019t include the time I would have to spend getting to and from the places \u2014 factories and other companies \u2014 where I\u2019d be teaching English classes.<\/p>

I walked away from that interview thinking, what had I gotten myself into? I ended up getting a better job, and then a better one after that \u2014 but not too much better.<\/p>

This isn\u2019t only for English teachers. Salaries for recent graduates at large companies, even international ones like car companies, are often barely high enough to cover the costs of transportation.<\/p>

And if you look at what the average waitress, grocery store clerk, or construction worker makes, you\u2019ll be truly shocked.<\/p>

So, keep that in mind if you plan on working while living in Mexico. Also, please keep it in mind the next time you\u2019re in Mexico and want to comment on how cheap everything is. Sure, it\u2019s cheap for you, but not for the people who work there.<\/p>

3. Bureaucracy, Red Tape, and Mismanagement<\/span><\/h2>

The Mexican government is a bureaucratic nightmare, and you\u2019ll be sucked into it right away when you decide to live in Mexico. This is the visa process.<\/p>

The rules change often and are applied randomly depending on the official you speak to, who may be friendly and helpful or inexplicably grumpy.<\/p>

Whenever I had to do some official paperwork in Mexico, I never knew if it would take 15 minutes, two hours, half a day \u2014 or end in total failure.<\/p>

This doesn\u2019t only apply to government institutions, by the way. Banking, for instance, is a similarly frustrating experience, marked by incompetence, apathy, and a lack of ethics.<\/p>

Banks charge fees that make no sense at all, give conflicting information about the same topic, and engage in seriously unprofessional practices. For instance, once they have your phone number, you\u2019ll be called almost daily with offers for loans and credit cards.<\/p>

4. Environmental Problems<\/span><\/h2>

Streets and public parks in Mexico are covered with litter. In many neighborhoods, local residents pile their garbage up on a street corner or even the median of a highway.<\/p>

It may take days, weeks, or never to get picked up. In the meantime, street dogs, passing cars, and heavy rains tear the garbage to pieces.<\/p>

The one river in the city where I lived in Mexico was black with raw sewage and industrial waste. You could smell it from far away, and on really bad days, feel it burning your eyeballs. Many people lived within smelling distance of this river.<\/p>

Environmental disasters are commonplace and readily visible in Mexico, which is disturbing to say the least.<\/p>

Sometimes they\u2019re caused by citizens, sometimes by industry, and sometimes by multinational corporations, as is the case with large-scale mining operations in the middle of nowhere and international hotels destroying large mangrove ecosystems for their expansions.<\/p>

Some measures are in place to protect the environment, such as a vehicle emissions verification program. But then you hear stories of how the workers at the verification centers not only accept but actively solicit bribes, in return for giving the all-clear to heavily polluting vehicles, and the situation seems even more grim.<\/p>

5. Cultural Issues<\/span><\/h2>

You may experience culture shock in Mexico, but fortunately it will be more confusing than actually shocking. Mexicans are overwhelmingly cheerful, easygoing, and tolerant, meaning that cultural misunderstandings are more often met with humor than anger or offense.<\/p>

\"cheerful<\/p>

Lateness may be the first thing that expats notice. If you arrive on time for a work meeting, you may end up spending 30 minutes or more waiting for everyone else to show up. And, trust me, the one time you\u2019re late will be the one time the meeting starts on time.<\/p>

Social events are worse, and it\u2019s normal for people to be several hours late for your dinner party. In fact, many people consider showing up on time to be rude. The hosts might not even be dressed yet.<\/p>

Another thing to be aware of is that Mexicans are hesitant to complain, at least in person. (Take a look at any public forum, like on Facebook, and you\u2019ll see that there\u2019s no shortage of online complainers.)<\/p>

If you\u2019re subjected to hours of nonstop barking by a neighbor\u2019s dog, and you go to the neighbor\u2019s house to politely complain, guess what: Now you\u2019re the rude one.<\/p>

Somewhat similar to this is the aversion the average Mexican has to saying \u201cno.\u201d Flat-out refusing someone\u2019s request is rarely done in Mexico, and is often considered extremely rude.<\/p>

This can be as simple as turning down an offer of a cup of coffee or a meal. Why? Does he hate my cooking? Saying you\u2019re simply not hungry is rarely taken at face value.<\/p>

The Mexican solution is to simply say \u201cyes,\u201d but then never do what was promised. You can imagine all the trouble this leads to.<\/p>

Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>

Living in Mexico<\/h3>

There you have it, the pros and cons of living in Mexico. Please keep in mind that there\u2019s obviously much more to living in Mexico than the 15 items on the list above. Your experience will greatly depend on your own perception, actions, and where in the country you choose to live.<\/p>

So, why live in Mexico? In our opinion, the pros of living in Mexico far outweigh the cons, although of course the pros and cons of living in Mexico depend on whoever is perceiving them.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>