Country research
Mexico
Prices overall are about 0.54 of United States prices at market exchange rates, and people living abroad rank Mexico 1st of 31 countries for ease of settling in. English proficiency is very low (EF 2025: 440, 103rd), and a temporary resident visa on economic solvency allows a stay of more than 180 days and up to four years. [C1] [Q1] [F1] [V1]
The Fernshore Index
How it grades, factor by factor.
Each grade is against a published measure, with its source and the date we checked it. It is research information, not advice. Where we have no figure, the row says Unknown.
Cost of living
62 of 100Mixed
Price level 0.537 of United States prices (2025).
Source: Price level index (GDP), Mexico. Checked 15 October 2026.
Climate
0 of 100Weak
Mérida, the main city: no comfortable month a year; the coolest months, January and December, average a daily high of 30.2 °C, just over the 30 °C line, and every other month is hotter or wetter.
Source: Normal climatológica 1991–2020, Merida (Conagua) (31097). Checked 15 October 2026.
Safety
16 of 100Weak
Global Peace Index 2026: 139th of 163.
Source: Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank. Checked 15 October 2026.
Healthcare
64 of 100Mixed
WHO UHC service coverage index 79 (2023).
Source: UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1). Checked 15 October 2026.
Schools
Unknown
Our research doesn't cover schools yet.
Community
87 of 100Strong
Expat Insider 2026 Ease of Settling In: 1st of 31.
Source: Expat Insider 2026: Ease of Settling In. Checked 15 October 2026.
Lifestyle
60 of 100Mixed
Expat Insider 2026 Quality of Life: 16th of 31.
Source: Expat Insider 2026: Quality of Life. Checked 15 October 2026.
Work and career
50 of 100Mixed
Mixed: Mexican consulates accept remote-work income for temporary residence on economic solvency (there is no separate remote-worker visa), but fixed broadband is 21.7 per 100 people (2024), under the 30 line.
Source: Temporary resident visa: economic solvency (2026 checklist); Temporary resident visa checklist 2026; Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Mexico. Checked 15 October 2026.
Retirement
85 of 100Strong
Strong: temporary residence on economic solvency accepts pension income, has no age minimum, and four years as a temporary resident allow a change to permanent residence.
Source: Temporary resident visa: economic solvency (2026 checklist); Change from temporary resident to permanent resident (procedure INM-03-010-B). Checked 15 October 2026.
Internet
48 of 100Mixed
21.74 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people (2024).
Source: Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Mexico. Checked 15 October 2026.
English
0 of 100Weak
EF EPI 2025 score 440, below the 499 weak line.
Source: EF English Proficiency Index 2025: Mexico. Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, United States passport
85 of 100Strong
The temporary resident visa on economic solvency is open without a Mexican job offer or age minimum and allows a stay of more than 180 days and up to four years. It asks for either an income of more than US$52,000 a year or savings of more than US$73,000. The official figures are about MXN 79,800 a month (680 days of the UMA, Mexico's daily reference unit) or about MXN 1,300,000 balance, converted at the 15 October 2026 rate. To be safe, have more than MXN 80,000 a month. The San Diego consulate prints about US$4,500 a month or about US$76,000, and New York prints about US$4,200 or about US$71,500. To be safe, have more than US$4,600 a month.
Source: General guidelines for issuing visas (2025), procedure 5: temporary resident visa; Value of the UMA; Exchange rates, 15 October 2026 (MXN cross rates from the ECB reference rates); Temporary resident visa: economic solvency (2026 checklist); Temporary resident visa checklist 2026. Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, Canada passport
85 of 100Strong
Same visa: no job offer or age minimum, a stay of more than 180 days and up to four years. It asks for either an income of more than US$55,000 a year or savings of more than US$77,000. Vancouver and Calgary print about CA$6,500 a month or about CA$108,900 balance, converted at the 15 October 2026 rate. To be safe, have more than CA$6,500 a month. The consulate pages were read from archive copies from February and March 2026.
Source: General guidelines for issuing visas (2025), procedure 5: temporary resident visa; Value of the UMA; Exchange rates, 15 October 2026 (MXN cross rates from the ECB reference rates); Temporary resident visa (archived copy of 12 March 2026); Visas: temporary residence (archived copy of 23 February 2026). Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, Australia passport
85 of 100Strong
Same visa: no job offer or age minimum, a stay of more than 180 days and up to four years. It asks for either an income of more than US$52,000 a year (about A$75,000) or savings of more than US$73,000. The official 2025 guidelines set about MXN 79,800 a month or about MXN 1,300,000 balance, converted at the 15 October 2026 rate. To be safe, have more than MXN 80,000 a month. Canberra's current page couldn't be opened; its information sheet is from 2022.
Source: General guidelines for issuing visas (2025), procedure 5: temporary resident visa; Value of the UMA; Exchange rates, 15 October 2026 (MXN cross rates from the ECB reference rates); Temporary resident visa: general information (2022 sheet). Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, New Zealand passport
85 of 100Strong
Same visa: no job offer or age minimum, a stay of more than 180 days and up to four years. Wellington prints about NZ$5,300 a month (an income of more than US$36,000 a year) or about NZ$86,000 balance (savings of more than US$49,000), converted at the 15 October 2026 rate. To be safe, have more than NZ$5,400 a month. The official 2025 guidelines figure is higher: more than US$52,000 a year or savings of more than US$73,000. The embassy page was read from a February 2026 archive copy.
Source: General guidelines for issuing visas (2025), procedure 5: temporary resident visa; Value of the UMA; Exchange rates, 15 October 2026 (MXN cross rates from the ECB reference rates); Temporary resident visa (archived copy of 27 February 2026). Checked 15 October 2026.
Cities
Cities in Mexico.
Each city page shows which figures are its own and which are the country's.
Topics
The detail on Mexico.
Guides
Mexico, by passport.
Each guide is written for citizens of one country.
For your situation
Mexico for different circumstances.
Compare
Side by side with another country.
The same measures for both places, with no ranking.
Questions about Mexico.
How do prices in Mexico compare with the United States?
Prices overall in Mexico are about 0.54 of United States prices at market exchange rates (World Bank price level index, 2025). That is an economy-wide average, not a budget for one household, and it does not show what rent, food or any single item costs.
How long can I stay in Mexico without a visa?
Canada's travel advice says Canadians need no tourist visa for stays of up to 180 days, and the immigration officer at entry sets your exact days. Paid work needs a work visa. To live there for 180 days or more, a temporary resident visa is applied for at a Mexican consulate before you travel. Check your own passport.
How much income or savings does Mexico ask for to live there?
Mexico's rules set income above a set monthly figure for six months, or an average balance for twelve; to be safe, have more than MXN 80,000 a month or MXN 1,400,000. US consulates print dollars: about US$4,200 to US$4,600 a month, or about US$71,500 to US$78,000 saved; to be safe, more than US$4,700 or US$79,000.
What do Canadian and New Zealand consulates ask for?
Vancouver and Calgary print Canadian dollars; to be safe, have more than CA$6,500 a month or about CA$110,000 as a balance. We found no current New Zealand figure, so Mexico's peso rules apply: about NZ$7,800 a month at 2 October rates, and more than MXN 80,000 to be safe. Ask the consulate that serves you.
Can I work remotely from Mexico?
Fernshore found no separate remote-worker visa. Consulates take remote income under the temporary resident visa, and ask for proof: San Diego wants employees to bring a letter agreeing to remote work from Mexico; New York wants a letter showing permission to work from abroad. Las Vegas lists self-employed income proof.
How does Mexico rank for safety?
The Global Peace Index 2026 ranks Mexico 139th of 163, a national score. Canada's travel advice says to exercise a high degree of caution because of high levels of criminal activity and kidnapping, and to avoid non-essential travel to parts of several states. It varies by place, so check the advice for yours.
Sources
Where each figure comes from.
Every figure on this page links to the page we read, with the date we checked it.
- [C1] Price level index (GDP), Mexico, World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2025: 53.69 (United States = 100), read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [Q1] Expat Insider 2026: Ease of Settling In, InterNations (Expat Insider survey, private). Checked 15 October 2026. Mexico ranks 1st of 31 countries.
- [F1] EF English Proficiency Index 2025: Mexico, EF Education First (private test-taker index). Checked 15 October 2026. Score 440, global ranking 103rd, 19 points down on the previous score; the 2026 edition was not yet published on 15 October 2026.
- [V1] General guidelines for issuing visas (2025), procedure 5: temporary resident visa, Diario Oficial de la Federación (Secretaría de Gobernación and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores). Checked 15 October 2026. Published 25 July 2025. Temporary residence visa: a stay of more than 180 days and not more than 4 years. Economic solvency: an average monthly balance of 11,460 days of UMA over 12 months, or tax-free employment or pension income above 680 days of UMA a month over 6 months. No age minimum and no job offer in the solvency route.
- [G1] El relieve en México, Secretaría de Educación Pública (Nueva Escuela Mexicana). Checked 15 October 2026. Describes the Sierra Madre Oriental (to about 3,700 m) and Sierra Madre Occidental (to about 3,000 m).
- [G2] Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020: Presentación de resultados, Yucatán, INEGI. Checked 15 October 2026. Mérida is Yucatán's most populous municipality, 995,129 inhabitants (2020).
- [G3] Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020: Presentación de resultados, Querétaro, INEGI. Checked 15 October 2026. Querétaro municipality, 1,049,777 inhabitants (2020).
- [G4] Cancún, Wikipedia (secondary). Checked 15 October 2026. "The city is situated on the Caribbean Sea"; Puerto Vallarta is on the Pacific coast (see Puerto Vallarta page).
- [G5] Puerto Vallarta, Wikipedia (secondary). Checked 15 October 2026. "a Mexican resort city on Bahía de Banderas of the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Jalisco".
- [G6] Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020: Principales resultados por localidad (ITER), Guanajuato, INEGI. Checked 15 October 2026. San Miguel de Allende town: 72,452 residents (2020); the municipality 174,615.
- [G7] ¿Qué hay en las localidades rurales de México?, INEGI (2024). Checked 15 October 2026. 184,295 rural localities with 26,688,539 residents (Census 2020).
- [G8] Rural population (% of total population), World Bank, World Development Indicators. Checked 15 October 2026. 2025: 20.0% of the population is rural (national definitions).
- [W1] Normal climatológica 1991–2020, Merida (Conagua) (31097), Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN), Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA). Checked 16 October 2026. Read from an archive copy dated 16 October 2026; the official file at the original address shows the same figures. Station 31097 Merida (Conagua), Mérida municipality, 10 msnm; file issued 9 October 2026. Monthly average daily highs 30.2 to 36 °C; months with a high of 30 °C or less and under 150 mm of rain: none (0). Mérida (Conagua), the main city for Mexico's climate grade. The profile's private-site copy (Climate-Zone.com) rounds to whole numbers and shows January and December at 30 °C; the SMN file has them at 30.2 °C.
- [W2] Normal climatológica 1991–2020, Puebla (Obs) (21065), Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN), Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA). Checked 16 October 2026. Read from an archive copy dated 11 October 2026; the official file at the original address shows the same figures. Station 21065 Puebla (Obs), WMO 76685: monthly average daily highs 22.4 to 28.0 °C, so the weather type is also mild.
- [S1] Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank, Institute for Economics and Peace. Checked 15 October 2026. Mexico ranks 139th of 163 countries (score 2.650).
- [H1] UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1), World Health Organization. Checked 15 October 2026. Mexico: 79 out of 100 (2023), read from the WHO GHO API on 15 October 2026.
- [Q2] Expat Insider 2026: Quality of Life, InterNations (Expat Insider survey, private). Checked 15 October 2026. Mexico ranks 16th of 31 countries in the Quality of Life Index.
- [K1] Temporary resident visa: economic solvency (2026 checklist), Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego. Checked 15 October 2026. US$4,510 a month of employment or pension income for 6 months, or a US$75,950 average balance for 12 months; employees need a letter agreeing to remote work from Mexico. San Diego consular district, 2026 figures. Used for the United States passport.
- [V3] Temporary resident visa checklist 2026, Consulate General of Mexico in New York. Checked 15 October 2026. US$4,200 a month of income for 6 months, or a US$71,500 balance for 12 months; remote workers need a letter showing permission to work from abroad. Used for the United States passport.
- [K2] Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Mexico, International Telecommunication Union, via the World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2024: 21.74 per 100 people, read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [R1] Change from temporary resident to permanent resident (procedure INM-03-010-B), Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM), via gob.mx. Checked 15 October 2026. Four years as a temporary resident allow a change to permanent residence; retirees and pensioners with income from abroad are another route. The page has no date. gob.mx shows an automated-access challenge to scripts, so the content was read with a page reader.
- [V2] Value of the UMA, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). Checked 15 October 2026. The page loads its figures by script, so the value was not read from it directly. 2026 value MXN 117.31 a day (in force from 1 February 2026); 680 days is MXN 79,771 and 11,460 days is MXN 1,344,373.
- [F2] Exchange rates, 15 October 2026 (MXN cross rates from the ECB reference rates), European Central Bank, via the Frankfurter API. Checked 15 October 2026. 1 MXN = 0.05399 USD, 0.0767 CAD, 0.07812 AUD, 0.0964 NZD on 15 October 2026.
- [V4] Temporary resident visa (archived copy of 12 March 2026), Consulate General of Mexico in Vancouver (Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026. CA$108,894 average monthly balance over 12 months, or tax-free employment or pension income of over CA$6,461 a month over 6 months. Used for the Canadian passport. The live page refused automated access in earlier research; the archive copy opened on 15 October 2026.
- [V5] Visas: temporary residence (archived copy of 23 February 2026), Consulate General of Mexico in Calgary (Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026. Same CA$108,894 and CA$6,461 figures as Vancouver. Used for the Canadian passport.
- [V6] Temporary resident visa: general information (2022 sheet), Embassy of Mexico in Australia, Canberra. Checked 15 October 2026. A 2022 sheet: the visa is for stays of more than 180 days and less than 4 years; the card is issued by INM within 30 days of arrival and allows up to four years. Its solvency figures (a balance of MXN 708,500) are an older basis that no longer applies, so the 2025 guidelines (V1) set the Australian test.
- [V7] Temporary resident visa (archived copy of 27 February 2026), Embassy of Mexico in New Zealand, Wellington (Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026. Economic solvency: NZ$86,000 average monthly balance over 12 months, or NZ$5,300 average monthly income over 6 months (page last updated February 2025, below the 2025 guidelines figure). Used for the New Zealand passport.