Meet the Friendliest Locals in Mexico City

Despite lingering safety concerns, expats in Mexico City are among the happiest worldwide.

Favorable Finances for Expats
An Increasingly Good Working Life
Finding Your Crowd Is No Issue
Handling the Basics (Mostly) with Ease
However, Safety Concerns Remain
Further Reading

Mexico City continues to delight expats. Ranking 5th out of 53 cities in the 2024 Expat City Ranking, the city is in the top 10 for three of the five underlying indices — and only narrowly misses out for Working Abroad (11th). There may be room for improvement in some areas of the Quality of Life Index (36th), but close to nine in ten expats (88%) say they’re overall happy with their life in Mexico City. That’s 20 percentage points above the global average of 68%!

Favorable Finances for Expats

When it comes to money, Mexico City seems to tick all the boxes, with it ranking in the top 10 for all three factors of the Personal Finance Index (4th). Close to two in three expats (66%) find that their disposable household income is more than enough to live a comfortable life in the city, 25 percentage points more than the global average of 41%.

The view on the cost of living in Mexico City is also much less negative than among expat peers elsewhere (17% negative ratings vs. 39%), leading three-quarters of respondents there (75%) to be satisfied with their financial situation (vs. 54% globally).

“I enjoy a high salary and low cost of living here.” – Brazilian expat

Other respondents agree: 74% find they’re paid fairly for their work, compared to just 58% of respondents worldwide. The city thus ranks 2nd for this factor.

An Increasingly Good Working Life

Mexico City only just misses out on a top 10 placement in the Working Abroad Index, ranking 11th in 2024. This is another step up from its previous 24th and 20th ranking in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Respondents highlight their personal career opportunities (5th), the local job market (9th), and their job security (10th), despite less stellar reviews on the state of the local economy (30th). All in all, over three-quarters (77%) are satisfied with their job (vs. 60% globally).

Interestingly, Mexico City sees an above-average share of respondents who were originally sent to the city by their employer (14% vs. 8% globally). The total sum of respondents who primarily moved for work-related reasons is rather average, though (36% vs. 35%).

Finding Your Crowd Is No Issue

Once arrived, expats find it’s no problem getting used to the culture (1st) and making local friends (1st).

“The people are very kind and nice.” – Swiss expat

In fact, Mexico City ranks 1st for the friendliness of the locals, both in general as well as towards foreign residents. And that’s not the only draw: expats very much feel welcome (88% vs. 63% globally) and at home (75% vs. 58%). There is actually not a single factor in the Ease of Settling In Index where Mexico City doesn’t make it into the top 10, so its overall 2nd place in the index is hardly surprising.

The language certainly plays a role here as well. Admittedly, less than two in five respondents (39%) agree it’s easy to live in Mexico City without speaking Spanish (vs. 48% globally). But the vast majority (84%) finds it’s an easy language to learn (vs. 38%), and a similar share (81%) do in fact speak it at least fairly well (vs. 59%). As a result, Mexico City ranks 3rd for Language.

Handling the Basics (Mostly) with Ease

In other areas of the Expat Essentials Index — where Mexico City places 9th overall — the city sees mixed results. Expats agree access to online services is unrestricted (12th), but getting high-speed internet in the first place might take some work (30th). And while securing a visa is doable (12th), handling official paperwork online is often not an option (35th).

Compared to previous years, Mexico City’s 30th place in the Admin Topics Subcategory is an improvement. In 2022 and 2023, it ranked among the ten worst-performing cities here. Now, the only factor in the whole index where it still places in the bottom 10 is cashless payment options (44th).

In terms of Housing (7th), respondents leave glowing reviews regarding the affordability (11th) and availability (7th) of accommodation.

However, Safety Concerns Remain

As in previous years, Mexico City receives its worst result in the Quality of Life Index — though it’s finally escaped the bottom 10 to rank 36th in 2024.

One of the biggest pain points? Safety. Globally, four in five respondents (80%) rate this factor positively. In Mexico City, the share is 58%, and it thus ranks in the bottom 3 for this factor (51st). Views on political stability are similarly bleak (45th).

Expats in Mexico City are the least likely to agree that the government supports policies to protect the environment (53rd). That’s bad news, as the air quality could use some serious improvement — 70% rate it negatively (vs. 19% globally). In general, respondents aren’t happy with the urban environment, ranking Mexico City 51st.

“Noise and pollution are both extreme.” – US American expat

So even a great 7th place for climate & weather can’t lift Mexico City out of the bottom 3 in the Environment & Climate Subcategory (51st). On the flip side, expats simply adore the city for its culinary offering (1st).

“I love the food, the culture, and the beautiful places to visit.” – Venezuelan expat

Others agree, rating the city’s culture & nightlife in 2nd place. So combined with many opportunities for recreational sport (11th), there’s plenty to do in Mexico City.