Q4 2023 Far Homes & Expats in Mexico Survey Results
In December, Far Homes partnered with ExpatsinMexico.com to survey people now living in Mexico that previously lived in another country. For this survey we focused on retirees (85% of respondents) and those over the age of 55 (95% of respondents). Our survey respondents were primarily retirees (93%), who previously lived in the US or Canada. The group was split evenly between men (50%) and women (49.2%) who have moved to a wide range of locations within Mexico (see map below).
The survey indicates that many expats experience financial improvements and a better work-life balance after moving to Mexico. It also points to Mexico as a preferred retirement destination, with a high satisfaction rate among retirees, overall. The survey also reveals that expats feel safe living in Mexico and most plan to stay for life.
Weather, Low Cost of Living and Mexican Culture Beckon Americans and Canadians to Mexico
“When it comes to reasons for moving to Mexico, it seems good weather reigns supreme,” said Chet Kittleson, CEO of Far Homes. Of the expats we surveyed, 87% of respondents cited the weather as a reason for relocating. The next most common response was cost of living with 80% of folks saying they moved to Mexico for a more affordable life. Mexican culture is also a major draw for expats with a supermajority, over 75% of respondents saying things like language, food and Mexican traditions are a reason for moving.
80% of Expats Point to Lower Cost of Living in Mexico as a Reason for Moving
After ‘climate and weather’, expats chose ‘cost of living’ most often as a reason for moving to Mexico (80%). Prices are considerably lower in Mexico where 64% of our expats report paying less than $1,150 USD per month for rent. 24% of expats who rent say they pay less than $600USD or 10,000 pesos per month for their apartment! Compared to the US where the average rent is about $1,400 nationwide, with many states coming in at higher rent rates, on average. Even real estate is much less expensive in Cancun, than in other comparable North American vacation markets. We compared the cost of living in the US/CA to Mexican cities earileir this year.
Expats in Mexico are saving hundreds of dollars per month on food, with 62% of them reporting that they spend less than $550 per month on food including groceries and eating out. According to Numbeo, the cost of groceries and restaurant dining in the US are 75% and 105% more expensive than in Mexico, respectively.
Overall, a majority (56%) of expats say living in Mexico has improved their financial situation post-move.
For those who work, 61.3% of respondents said they have a better work-life balance in Mexico while 19.4% said it was about the same in their new home country. So most working expats are both saving money, and increasing their work-life balance.
96% of Expats were Satisfied with their Retirement in Mexico
The vast majority of expats we surveyed (85%) were retirees so we thought we’d ask them how satisfied they are overall with their retirement in Mexico. Almost all of them, 96%, said they were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘somewhat satisfied’. Less than 3% of expats said they regretted their move.
Expats Enjoy High Quality Healthcare at Low Costs while 96% Say They’re Satisfied with Mexican Healthcare
Almost a third (32%) of expats say they left their home country (mainly the US) due to ‘healthcare cost & quality’ in their home countries. There has been a rush of medical tourism to Mexico in recent years in large part due to the rising cost of healthcare in the US. Mexico offers similar healthcare quality that our expats are satisfied with, for an affordable price.
We’ve previously reported that American expats in Mexico are saving about $8,000 per year by moving and that still appears to be the case.
Those cost savings don’t seem to sacrifice healthcare quality, though, because most of our expats surveyed with experience using the Mexican system say they are satisfied with their doctors and hospitals.
Most who have experience are happy with their healthcare overall in Mexico where 96% are feeling very satisfied (40%) or somewhat satisfied (56%):
Infrastructure, Crime and Governmental Corruption Concern Expats Most
We also wanted to know what concerned expats most about their move to Mexico. Transportation and infrastructure, things such as roads, public transportation, internet, water etc, was the most commonly selected frustration with almost 32.4% of expats selecting that answer in our survey.
9.4% of respondents said the equivalent of “Nada” or “Nothing”.
21% of expats in Mexico say they left their home country due to safety concerns and crime. We reported on crime rates in Mexico this year and found that many areas in Mexico are very safe for Americans when compared to rates in the top 10 cities in the US.
One frustration 24.1% of expats had was with Mexican government and politics. A similar number, 23% of respondents, chose safety and crime as a concern, which could be related to their feelings about government and politics in Mexico.
We directly asked about their approval of current Mexican President Lopez Obrador and 61% of expats had no opinion or didn’t know. Of those who had an opinion, our expats were split fairly evenly on the issue at 49% approval and 51% disapproval of the President.
Later in the survey we asked whether expats felt safe in Mexico and a majority (55.6%) said that they felt ‘very safe’ in Mexico while 41% said they felt ‘somewhat safe’. Only 4.2% said they felt ‘somewhat unsafe’ and no one we surveyed (0%) said ‘very unsafe’. (see chart below).
96% of Expats Feel Safe in Mexico
95% of expats are satisfied with their move and most plan on staying in Mexico for life
80% of expats in Mexico say they are very satisfied with their decision to move to Mexico and another 15% say they are at least somewhat satisfied. Only one respondent said they were ‘not satisfied at all’.
We also asked expats about any future plans they might have to leave Mexico. Most, 61% said they had no plans to leave or plan on staying for life. 29.7% said they ‘maybe’ would consider a move and only 8.7% said their move to Mexico is temporary.
Methodology & Demographics
We leveraged the multiple groups of expats living in Mexico to participate in our survey. These sources included Facebook expat group members, ExpatsinMexico.com email subscribers, and other expat groups on social media. No personal information was collected or responses connected to individual people in our survey. Our group had an even gender split at 50% men and 48.9% women answering our questions. Most of them were over the age of 55 and retired or semi-retired with 81% coming from the US originally.
We’d like to thank all of our participants for their time and candid responses! We’ll feature additional answers from this survey in future reports.
Thinking about moving to Mexico?
Find homes for sale in Mexico at farhomes.com/mexico-real-estate, or learn more about being an expat in Mexico at expatsinmexico.com..
*ExpatsinMexico.com is an online magazine, purchased by Far Homes in 2022. It is run independently from Far Homes.
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