Lower living costs, proximity to family, and financial stability are reshaping retirement for thousands of Americans.
As of early 2025, approximately 1.6 million U.S. citizens live in Mexico, with a significant portion being retirees attracted by lower costs, proximity to the U.S., and a better quality of life. Mexico ranks as a top destination for American retirees, with popular communities including Lake Chapala, San Miguel de Allende, and Mérida.
Last year, 487 retired Americans moved to Mexico due to its lower cost of living. According to State Department data, this is a figure not seen since 1990, when Mexico experienced a mass influx of older Americans, drawn by the proximity to their country and the low cost of living on this side of the border.
Faced with persistent inflation above two percent and a cost of living that is eroding pensions in the United States, hundreds of U.S. retirees have found in Mexico not only a climate refuge but also financial salvation.
The case of Walter, a 72-year-old retired nurse, exemplifies this. Walter decided to move from North Carolina to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.
In an interview, he explained the reasons behind his decision. “We had to find alternatives so we wouldn’t run out of money, and we thought one option would be to live in a less expensive country. We considered Colombia or Costa Rica, but we didn’t want to be too far from our family, so we chose Mexico. A colleague recommended San Miguel, and here we are,” he said.
According to Walter, the American dream, which traditionally culminated in a peaceful retirement in Florida or California, enjoying the fruits of decades of work, has faded, and now that dream is seen as “an unattainable luxury” for many due to the economic reality in the United States.
Walter, who moved to Mexico last January with his wife, Lisa, recounted his experience adapting to a culture he says he learned from a woman who helped them in their home for many years and who was originally from Toluca, State of Mexico.
“I came to live in Mexico with Lisa, my wife, for several reasons, mainly financial. It hasn’t been easy because my children and grandchildren stayed in the United States, but the people in Mexico are very kind. We also have several American friends here, and we knew the food and a lot about the culture from a woman who worked with us and shared with us what it was like to live in Mexico,” he said.
For Javier Urbano, head of the research area on migration phenomena at the Ibero-American University, the main motivation for the new exodus of Americans to Mexico is purchasing power, since the cost of living in the United States is, on average, 63.3 percent higher than in Mexico.
“The phenomenon stems from a mathematical necessity rather than a tourism one. Data presented in the U.S. Senate reveals an alarming statistic: almost half of the workers in that country are at risk of facing a financially insecure retirement,” he explained.
According to data from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), based in Washington, D.C., between 1990 and 2000 alone, places like Chapala, in Jalisco, saw a 581.4 percent increase in the number of retired Americans who came to reside there.
In other places like Los Cabos, in Baja California, the increase was 308.3 percent, while San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, came to be home to more than 10,000 retired Americans. By 2020, the estimated number of retired U.S. citizens in Mexico was nearly one million.
