I’ve lived and worked in Mexico for over 25 years and am now retired here. It is certainly far more expensive than before with supermarket prices comparable to those in the UK and Italy. Numbeo however still shows Mexico as being cheaper than many North American and European cities - but there is a good reason that visa salary requirements are nearly three times higher than a decade ago. Yes it is possible to live cheaply here - most Mexicans have to - but a middle class family lifestyle is not cheap as most will pay for schools, healthcare etc… . Security is a concern - car jacking and business extortion are very common but you can with care minimise risks - and certainly if you don’t have a business and don’t drive much then you are unlikely to experience anything other than petty crime.

Major roads, internet and mobile services can be excellent although autopista tolls can make long journeys pricey. Providing you don’t live in an area where aircon is essential (unfortunately most costal areas) then energy costs can be very low - I have solar over and water heating and spend about US$200/year on gas and electricity - (no aircon needed) for a 500m2 house.

Private medical services are first rate, but free government health services are very patchy - best for use if all else fails. Not a problem for the young as private insurance is cheap for them and most won’t have many serious health issues. For the more elderly such as me health costs start to dominate expenditure. Health insurance starts to become very expensive and if you come from a country with free heath care these costs must be carefully considered - health insurance, medicines, doctor’s appointments etc. now represent about 30% of my expenses - and as of yet I don’t have any serious health conditions.

Taxation can be high or can be low! There are tax regimes with very low rates to encourage people out of the black economy but in general as an employee or fee based worker taxes can be surprisingly high with very limited state services in return. Tax evasion is more and more difficult as banks have to report all deposits and credit payments to the tax authorities who then compare these to your declared income. So if a digital nomad receives income from outside Mexico and this is deposited in Mexico the tax authorities will want to see that on the annual tax declaration (living in Mexico it’s difficult to not to be resident for Mexican tax even if all income is from overseas - Mexico taxes global income). Mortgage rates are high (11%+) , and property prices can be high in the popular ex-pat areas. and of course Mexico is very, very bureaucratic, there are so many transactions that need to be done in person - just an address change for a bank account has to be done in person - so it’s a lifestyle with lots of queuing!

Is Mexico a good option? I guess the answer is it can be - I’m still here!

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