These figures come from Miguel's free bilingual guide, The Veteran's Guide to Mexico Relocation, and this post draws on that guide throughout. The guide is careful to call its numbers a starting point rather than a promise, because your cost of living is yours alone.
Where the 40 to 55 percent comes from
The guide's figure is that for most Americans, day-to-day living in most of Mexico runs roughly 40 to 55 percent lower than equivalent US spending, depending on where you land and how you live. Housing, food, utilities, healthcare and services all tend to cost less, which is why retirement income stretches so much further on the coast.
What it looks like in practice
The guide breaks typical spending down region by region, including rental ranges across the best regions, because what your money buys in Merida can look different from what it buys on the coast. The specific ranges live in the guide rather than in a one-size-fits-all number, and they change, so treat them as a map, not a quote.
What the savings buy you
The point of a lower cost of living is rarely a smaller budget; it is what the room in your budget buys. For many veterans that means a nicer home, more frequent travel, help around the house or simply the peace of money not being the loudest worry of the month. The guide frames it as the difference between getting by and living well.
Your situation is yours
Everyone's numbers are different. A couple with no debt living simply in a small coastal town will land very differently from a family needing international schooling or regular stateside travel. The guide is explicit that its figures are general starting points, and honest budgeting happens when you map them onto your own life with current prices verified before you move.
The takeaway
The cost of living in Mexico is a genuine advantage for most Americans, and the guide is the place to see it region by region. Read the full breakdown before you let a single listing make the decision for you.
The full picture is in the guide
Want the whole picture? Get the free Veteran's Guide to Mexico Relocation. Share a few details below and we will send it over. If you have questions before or after reading it, Miguel is a phone call or email away.
Thinking about making the move?
Get a straight,no-obligation read from Miguel, your dual-citizen, bilingual guide working from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.