Mexico was the most popular landing spot for United States citizens who moved abroad last year, according to data compiled by moving service provider HireAHelper.
The Oceanside, California, company said in a blog post that 16,022 U.S. citizens “moved to Mexico as temporary or permanent residents in 2021.”
The figure was 38% higher than in 2019, when the coronavirus pandemic had not yet had an impact on people’s decisions about where they wanted to – and where they were able to – live.
“… Moves to Mexico outnumber those to the United Kingdom (14,626), and Canada (11,955), which are the second and third most popular destinations. The fourth most popular destination is Australia, where an estimated 7,948 Americans relocated in 2021,” said HireAHelper, which compiled data from authorities in 15 countries to which U.S. citizens commonly move.
The company also said that 10,594 Americans moved to Mexico in the first seven months of this year. “If migration to Mexico continues at its current pace, the country will receive over 18,000 U.S. citizens as new residents [in 2022],a new five-year high,” HireAHelper said.
Chet Kittleson, the CEO of a new Seattle startup that advertises properties for sale in Mexico to people in the U.S, said that his company Far Homes recorded a notable increase in online searches for homes in Mexico in recent months as many U.S. companies announced work-from-home policies. The real estate company Point2Homes said in September that the number of searches for homes in Mexico has seen a 60% rise.
Among the major issues contributing to “a persistent global perception that the United States is a less desirable place to live” — and thus possibly leading to more moves south of the border — are “recent high-profile Supreme Court decisions, a spike in the cost of living and chronically unaffordable housing,” in the U.S., HireAHelper said.
It added that “it’s hard to pinpoint the exact reasons pushing Americans to move abroad,” but did note that a recent article in Entrepreneur suggests that “the recent strengthening of the dollar and the rise of remote work play a part.”
“… The truth is it’s still too early to definitively tell whether recent political events in the U.S. will shape immigration. However, what we do know is there continues to be an increasing number of reports of young Americans and people of color leaving the country in search of a safer and more equitable place to live,” HireAHelper said.
The overall cost of living is lower in Mexico than in the United States, but inflation is also high here, and locally paid salaries are generally much lower than those north of the border.
However, foreigners who work remotely in Mexico and earn in currencies such as the U.S. dollar often find that they can afford much more here than they could at home.
Among the U.S. citizens who have recently moved to Mexico – most of whom don’t show up in the statistics cited by HireAHelper because they live here while on tourist visas – are digital nomads, many of whom have settled in hip Mexico City neighborhoods such as Roma and Condesa as well as coastal destinations such as Playa del Carmen.
According to InterNations, an organization that describes itself as the largest global community for expats, foreigners “find it extremely easy to get settled in Mexico and are happy with their personal finances” while living in the country.
The organization’s 2022 Expat Insider survey found that Mexico is “the world’s best country for expats” with a “happiness level” of 91%.
InterNations said that more than three-quarters of Mexico-based expats are happy with their financial situation, and 70% find housing to be affordable. It also said that 90% of expats in Mexico describe the local residents as friendly, and 75% find it easy to make friends among them.
Mexico News Daily
