I get emails and comments a lot asking what the best places to live in Mexico are. I’ve been living in and traveling around Mexico now for over five years. I’ve found towns and cities that I absolutely adore and the odd one or two that I don’t really need to go back to.
The thing about answering this question is that it’s totally personal. I love big cities. I love the hustle and bustle, all the restaurants and bars, the endless options for street food and constant festivals that happen every weekend. For me, Mexico City is a dream place to live (if only it had a beach, I’d never leave).
For other people, the idea of a city packed with over 20 million people, terrible traffic, and months that are punctuated by skies full of pollution, is an absolute nightmare. People who feel that way won’t think that Mexico City is one of the best places to live in Mexico.
I do, however, believe that if you want to move south of the border, there is a city or town that could make you very happy. Mexico is much cheaper than living in say, the US or Canada, but it’s not just about money.
The quality of life in Mexico is excellent. Every week I go to a local farmer’s market (called a tianguis in Mexico) where I buy fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season and packed with flavor. Mexico currently has a ban on all GMO companies, so what you’re eating is as good as it gets.
The weather is unbeatable. If you don’t like being hot, you can find a city in the mountains that has near zero humidity year round.
If you love to roast, the Caribbean coast or the deserts of Los Cabos will melt you no matter what the season. There are tropical climates and temperate zones. There are stunning mountains and beautiful white sand beaches. Mexico has it all (in my opinion) and moving here was one of the best things I’ve ever done.
Best Places to Live in Mexico City
1. Mexico City
I have spent four years calling this city home and while I know it’s not for everyone, it is a place that many fall deeply in love with.
There is both grit and a high-class cosmopolitan sides equally. There are crowded markets like La Merced and the tree-lined streets of Condesa and Roma. Then there are the the deep fried quesadillas in Coyoacan and the fine dining in Polanco. Or perhaps you’ll fall in love with the shopping at the bazaars for budget finds and hopping on the metro for 5 pesos.
Mexico City is my ideal climate. It sits at 7,382 feet (2,250 meters) and while the spring is pretty hot with temperatures of up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 Celsius), the winter is super mild with daytime temperatures of up to 65 degrees F (18 C).
I usually traveled to the US to visit family during the summer months to avoid the wet season. From June to September Mexico City experiences almost daily rainstorms. You can set your watch by it for around 2-3pm each day and the humidity builds until the storm rolls in, then it’s nice and cool in the evenings.
If you opt to live in Mexico City, you’ll have to find your own way to cope with the rainy situation.
Being such a large city, you will also find every type of doctor that you need. No need to travel elsewhere to find specialists or English-speaking doctors or dentists. The city has tons of fantastic, high quality doctors and hospitals to cater to most every medical need (at a fraction of the price of the US).
Check out my guide to the best neighborhoods in Mexico City to learn more about which neighborhoods might be best for you if you choose to move to Mexico City!
I have so much content on this blog about Mexico City, so I won’t bore you with all of the extra details. If you’re considering a move to Mexico City, check out the Mexico City section of my blog to read more.
2. Merida
I love Merida and genuinely believe it’s one of the best places to live in Mexico. It’s the perfect mix of city excitement and laid back beach vibes. It has colorful colonial buildings and run-down hipster-style cantinas. It has mezcal bars and
It’s only about a half an hour drive from the beach and the cost of living there is incredibly low. The city has plenty of street food and comida economicas, budget-friendly home-cooking style restaurants. But it also has a Costco and a Walmart.
There’s a major airport nearby and it’s only a few hours away from Cancun. It’s surrounded by Mayan history, nearby cenotes, and cultures that you’ve probably never even heard of. Have I mentioned that Yucatan food is some of the best in the country (don’t tell the Oaxacans I said that).
If you want a place that is warm year-round (summer is particularly hot), that has great city amenities, but without the claustrophobia of a big city, and you want to be near some fantastic Merida beaches, it doesn’t get much better than Merida, in my opinion.
Read: A Guide to Merida
3. Riviera Maya
I’m going to go ahead and lump Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, Tulum and all that falls in between into the category of the Riviera Maya and say it is possible that it’s one of the best places to live in Mexico. Cancun is a tourist hotspot, which also means there are a lot of jobs there. Which also means that the price of property, whether renting or buying, is quite high.
As you head down the coastline towards Playa del Carmen, there are tons of tiny little towns and bays where those that want total seclusion can live. Maybe you’ll love Puerto Morelos. This small fishing port is close to the hospitals and other amenities of Cancun, but far enough away to feel like you can actually live here instead of just vacation here.
Playa del Carmen is a pretty cool beach town that definitely gets crowded with American and Canadian tourists during the winter and spring. You don’t necessarily have to live near the tourist area though. Playa del Carmen has a city side where the locals live and if you drive a little bit further down the coast there are a few great condominium and apartment complexes with reasonably priced places.
Along the way, you’ll also find the quiet town of Akumal. This can be a busy tourist spot when the turtles are here to feed, but it is mostly a day-trip spot. So you’ll find mornings and evenings to be relaxing and peaceful.
Then of course, there is Tulum.
The beach is swanky and has world-class restaurants. The town is quiet and has tiny little bars, yoga studios, and juice bars.
If I could stand the humidity during the summer months (we’re talking literally sweating 24/7), then I would probably move just south of here to be close to the amenities, but far enough away to avoid the throng of teenage tourists.
I love the laid-back vibes and yet how accessible all of the creature comforts still are. If you are a total beach bum, you’ll love Tulum.
Negatives? You are living in a place where people vacation. This is true of many of the best places to live in Mexico. And at first, that may not sound like a negative.
But when you just want to stroll the beach, have a quiet drink at your favorite bar, or visit the local market and it’s peak season packed with partying tourists, you may begin to question whether this is your forever home.
Related Posts: First Timer’s Guide to Tulum, The Anti-All Inclusive Guide to Cancun, What Not to Do in Playa del Carmen
4. Oaxaca
Oaxaca is growing as one of the most popular places to live in Mexico for expats.
The city of Oaxaca has everything I love – craft beer bars, rooftop restaurants, great food, tons of culture, beautiful parks, and it’s really easy to get into and out of.
There’s a huge ADO bus terminal and the airport is only a few miles from the city center. The city is low, there aren’t any skyscrapers or large buildings, which makes it feel more like a small town than a big city.
The weather is excellent. It’s hot and dry for half of the year and hot and wet for the other half. The people are kind, there are tons of markets where you can buy cheap groceries, there’s a huge organic market with vegetarian options.
The city just has such a great vibe about it and there are tons of little neighborhoods around the periphery of the city center. It’s one of the safest cities in Mexico, at least that’s been my experience there. I also like that it’s easy to access the surrounding region where you can enjoy lush countryside.
It is also one of the most affordable places to live in Mexico. The infrastructure is less than ideal here, so you are making other sacrifices, but the cost of living is very low and you can live on much less in a city like Oaxaca than you can in other parts of Mexico.
Other downsides? It’s pretty far from the coast. If you wanted to have a quick weekend by the beach, you’ll have to have a car or take a flight. It’s also not great for medical care. You’ll find general practitioners and dentists, but for specialists and more serious issues, you’ll want to head to a bigger (and wealthier) city.
WiFi can also be hit or miss here. If you are going to move to Mexico and work remotely, you’ll need to make sure you pay for the best internet provider here and even then, you may still have problems during the wet season’s biggest storms.
5. Guanajuato (or San Miguel de Allende)
There are two cities in the state of Guanajuato that are some of the best places to live in Mexico; Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende.
I personally prefer Guanajuato. Guanajuato is packed with history, the streets are winding and narrow, the cafes are roasting their own beans the old fashioned way, and the food scene here is one of the best in the country.
San Miguel de Allende is a little bit bigger, a little bit more glamorous, a little bit more popular with tourists and expats. They are quite close to each other, only about an hour’s drive between them, so if you want to live in the more affordable Guanajuato and spend time in San Miguel, you can easily do that.
The weather in this region of Mexico is much like Mexico City, but without the pollution. You can expect spring-like temperatures for much off the year since you are at roughly 6,700 feet or about 2,000 meters above sea level.
Spring is the warmest time of year and then during the summer months you will experience heightened humidity and rainy afternoons.
There are some wonderful Pueblos Mágicos in Guanajuato to explore and is home to some of the most important historical sites in modern Mexican history.
There are tons of things to do in San Miguel de Allende. While it is slightly more popular as a place to retire in Mexico, it is changing its image to welcome visitors and residents of all ages.
There are really cool food halls, great craft beer bars, high-end restaurants, grungy bars, amazing bakeries, and plenty of shopping to do in the city. It’s just a much slower pace than any of the big cities in the country, which I kind of love. If you’re an artist, a writer, a lover of the arts, this is a really great place to consider living in Mexico.
Read: A Guide to San Miguel de Allende
6. Puerto Vallarta
Another popular spot for expats, and my favorite beach town in Mexico, Puerto Vallarta has a nice mix of amenities and peacefulness.
Within the downtown area you’ll find Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Spanish language classes, private hospitals with English-speaking doctors, and local mercados and farmer’s markets where you can get top quality produce.
While the main tourist zone of the city is quite expensive and packed with spring-breakers half the year, the neighborhoods in Puerto Vallarta like Las Glorias or Fluvial Vallarta and further north to the beaches in Nayarit are incredibly beautiful and much quieter.
If you really want to get remote, you can travel inland for a few miles and all of the high rises and condominiums will give way to small neighborhoods where you can rent a house with a nice yard and practice your Spanish a lot more.
The west coast offers a lot of opportunities for cheap living while still being close to the beach. This is the place to come to live in Mexico if you want to go surfing everyday, if you want to eat fresh seafood and hop in your car to explore different beaches as much as possible. You’re close to jungle and mountains which offer some wonderful hiking opportunities.
So while I don’t totally recommend moving you and all of your belongings to downtown Puerto Vallarta, I do think there are a lot of incredible areas surrounding this hub and being close by means you can easily access the rest of the country thanks to its fantastic international airport.
7. San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí, the city and the state with the same name, are packed with adventure and nature.
If you love waterfalls, hiking, lush forests, and rafting, then I highly recommend checking out San Luis Potosí as a possible place to live in Mexico. The city is small, but still has everything you need. It has different events throughout the year like craft beer festivals, jazz festivals, and a yearly state fair.
The main attraction of living in San Luis Potosí, though, is the access to the natural beauty. The city is less than three hours from the jaw-droppingly beautiful Huasteca region.
This is where you can see enormous waterfalls, go hiking, rafting, kayaking, and take a dip in crystal clear lakes. It is quieter and cheaper than Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. It offers a similar climate to Mexico City or Queretaro, but without the traffic or excessive amount of tourists.
This is the place to live in Mexico if you want to completely immerse yourself in Mexican culture as well as maintain a very low cost of living.
8. Guadalajara
The country’s second biggest city is one of the most liveable cities in North America. If you want city living, but don’t want the traffic, pollution, and overcrowded life in Mexico City, Guadalajara is a great alternative.
There are fantastic restaurants in Guadalajara, a cool bar scene, plenty of things to do in Guadalajara, and even a few craft beer bars to check out. It’s also a lot more laid back than Mexico City.
It has everything you need from a city like good medical care, large supermarkets, and great options for food delivery services. You can find affordable places to live in great central neighborhoods.
It’s a safe place to live and you are close to tons of natural beauty like Bosque de la Primavera or Lake Chapala (another popular spot for expats to live in Mexico).
You are also much closer to the beach than you are from other great cities in Mexico. In about four hours, you can drive from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta. Or you can hop on a domestic flight from the nearby airport to get to the Caribbean coast in under three hours.
9. Querétaro
Querétaro is one of the best places to live in Mexico. This little mountain town has grown immensely in the last five or so years and has quickly turned into something of a cosmopolitan getaway for Chilangos (people from Mexico City).
If you are looking for a city with year-round good weather that doesn’t get too hot or too cold, Querétaro is one of the best places in the country for weather. You are close to tons of fantastic hiking, and the restaurant scene has grown so much here in recent years.
The cost of living is higher than somewhere like San Luis Potosi or Oaxaca, but the amenities are better. You can expect to find tons of fantastic doctors and you aren’t too far from Mexico City if you need a real specialist for something more serious.
The only downfall of Querétaro is that it isn’t close to an international airport. You need to take the bus to Mexico City airport if you want to return home to the US or Canada.
10. Los Cabos
If you have spent any time on my YouTube channel or follow along on my Facebook page, you’ll know that I absolutely love Los Cabos.
I lived here for a year after I left Mexico City in 2020 and it quickly became home.
Los Cabos is the name of the municipality that makes up several popular towns including San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas as well as much of the East Cape around Cabo Pulmo.
There are so many places to live in this part of Mexico. You don’t have to (nor should you) live in downtown Cabo San Lucas. The city of Cabo San Lucas has tons of neighborhoods to the west as well as to the east in between San Jose and Cabo San Lucas.
There are also tons of fantastic neighborhoods in San Jose del Cabo. I loved living right in the center of the old town in San Jose, but if I moved back to this region of Mexico, I would probably move to the East Cape to be closer to the best beaches in Los Cabos.
If you want something a little bit more peaceful, you can consider smaller beach towns like La Ventana or Los Barriles. Both are great for wind surfing and are still close enough to be able to do your shopping at the big chain grocery stores in San Jose or to come to the doctor or dentist in Cabo San Lucas.
11. La Paz
If you want to live in Baja California Sur, but don’t want to be near all of the partying, you may consider La Paz one of the best places to live in Mexico.
The city has all of the amenities of other great cities in Mexico including top-notch medical facilities and doctors, great restaurants, and affordable shopping for food and clothing.
There are big shopping centers, amazing beaches nearby, and fantastic nightlife. The malecon runs along the entire beachfront area in the downtown and is a fantastic place to go running.
The weather in this part of Mexico is exquisite if you don’t like humidity. It’s a nice dry heat for most of the year and you can swim in the warm, calm waters of the Gulf of California almost year round.
La Paz is central enough for great nearby hiking options, the international airport is well connected (and you’re not far from the San Jose del Cabo Airport to go further afield). You can learn more about it by reading past questions in the La Paz Expat Group on Facebook.
If you want a small town vibe close to La Paz, many expats love the dusty streets of Todos Santos.
12. San Cristobal de las Casas
Located in Chiapas, this is a very popular place to live in Mexico for Europeans, particularly people from Italy and France.
The cost of living in the entire state of Chiapas is some of the lowest in Mexico. This is in large part because Chiapas is also the poorest state in Mexico. So if you are living with a medical condition that requires regular doctor’s appointments or you are looking for somewhere to retire, this may not be the best place to live in Mexico for you.
If you are young, relatively healthy, you work remotely or run your own online business, and you want somewhere laid back and cheap to live in Mexico, then this may well be a great option to consider.
San Cristobal de las Casas is a quiet town with fantastic food options, yoga and wellness centers to find community in, and tons of natural beauty within driving distance.
Before You Make the Move to Mexico
It’s tempting to simply move to a new place without doing much research. It’s what I did when I moved to Mexico City back in 2016. I’d never been before and I jumped in with both feet.
But I’m a little cooky and I had a solid amount of savings in the bank in case everything ended up being terrible. I also wasn’t leaving behind anything. My boyfriend came with me and so did our two suitcases full of the only things we own.
If you have kids, if you are retiring, if you are spending all of your savings to make this move, I urge you to do your research. Visit a few different cities and towns in Mexico before you make your final decision. Find out about rent prices, find out how much things are at the grocery store, find out what life is going to be like there.
Ask yourself why you really want to move to Mexico. While I love this country and I believe that a lot of other people will too, it’s not for everyone.
If you’re only coming because it’s cheap and warm, there are plenty of other parts of the world, and indeed your own country (if you’re American), where you could live and you may be a lot happier there.
Ron
Sunday 10th of May 2020
You need to check out Morelia. A gorgeous city with a vibrant cultural scene.
Laura Bronner
Thursday 14th of May 2020
So many people have been recommending Morelia, I would love to visit there later this year if I can!
Dustin
Saturday 25th of May 2019
Where's La Paz and Loreto??
Laura Bronner
Monday 27th of May 2019
I like La Paz, it's certainly a nice place to visit, but best places to live? I suppose it depends on what you like!
Susan Mccrary
Sunday 6th of May 2018
I came back from Lake Chapala last Wednesday. The Lake Chapala Society is a big help in getting to know your way around. It is located in the village of Ajijic. Ajijic is the expat center. There are many restaurants and real estate offices catering to expats. The roughest part of being there is the streets are narrow and cobblestone. Sidewalks are uneven and narrow. Walking around is hampered by the lack of predictable sidewalks. English is widely spoken which helps. You can meet other expats just sitting in the town center. The area is a popular get away for Mexicans living in Guadalajara. The view of the Sierra Madre is stunningly beautiful. We met people who drove cabs and knew or were related to someone who owned a restaurant similar to small town U.S.A.
Layer Culture
Thursday 3rd of May 2018
Thanks for the list some of these places are new to me. Definitely checking out San Luis Potosi on my next trip to Mexico! Feel free to check out my blog for tips on backing South America.
nona
Wednesday 9th of May 2018
San Luis Potosi is great. Also its neighbors, Aguascalientes and Zacatecas I highly recommend the three.
Carlos from S F
Tuesday 1st of May 2018
Or if theres other places that I should know about in Mexico..Would sure like to hear about it. Thanks ! !