Mexico
Latest Average Wage
+8.9% · 5 years
$24,463
Country Comparison
Mexico vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Mexico
vs
United States
$24,4632025
Latest Average Wage
United States +255.5%
(vs Mexico)
$86,9772025
+8.9%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Mexico +6.8 pts
(vs United States)
+2.1%2025
+9.7%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +3.3 pts
(vs Mexico)
+13.0%2025
50.92024
Overall Price Level
United States +49.1 index points
(vs Mexico)
1002024
Wages are PPP-adjusted average annual wages; price levels use the United States reference of 100. Years shown are each country's latest reported observation.
How Wages Have Changed
Follow PPP-adjusted average annual wages in constant prices across both economies.
USD PPP, constant prices · missing years shown as gaps, never interpolated
United States
Latest Average Wage
+2.1% · 5 years
$86,977
Wage Milestones
Mexico
10 Years Ago
$22,304 (2015)
Historical Peak
$27,014 (1994)
Latest Wage
$24,463 (2025)
United States
10 Years Ago
$76,999 (2015)
Historical Peak
$86,977 (2025)
Latest Wage
$86,977 (2025)
Compare Everyday Price Levels
See how eight consumer price categories compare with the United States reference value of 100.
United States = 100 · Differences shown in index points
Mexico (MEX)United States (USA)
Overall
−49.1 index points
100
50.9vs100
Food
−11.7 index points
100
88.3vs100
Clothing
−28.0 index points
100
72vs100
Housing
−57.3 index points
100
42.7vs100
Health
−54.0 index points
100
46vs100
Transport
−19.4 index points
100
80.6vs100
Recreation
−36.7 index points
100
63.3vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
−34.9 index points
100
65.1vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 255.5% higher than Mexico's $24,463 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. That is roughly $62,514 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, United States shows the stronger movement at +1.7%, against +1.3% for Mexico. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Mexico at +8.9% and United States at +2.1% — so the latest year is not the whole story. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Housing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 42.7 for Mexico against 100 for United States. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 57.3 index points apart, United States above Mexico. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: Mexico reads 88.3 and United States 100 for 2024, just 11.7 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 19.4 index points apart. Two readings this close mean the category sits at nearly the same point of the US=100 scale for both.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
The wage levels in this pairing are far apart: United States reports $86,977 for 2025, while Mexico reports $24,463 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 255.5% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $62,514 a year. Both figures are expressed in USD PPP at constant 2025 prices, so they can be set side by side without any further conversion. For scale, neither series has moved by that much within any single reported year, so the gap is structural rather than the product of one unusual observation. Over ten years Mexico recorded +9.7% and United States +13.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. Mexico is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.3%, though the level remains 9.4% below its peak. United States sits at the highest point of its series — $86,977 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +13.0%. Mexico's five-year change of +8.9% outpaces United States' +2.1% in magnitude, so the common direction does not mean the two levels are holding a fixed distance. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Mexico's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 50.9, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: United States sits higher in 8 of the 8 comparable categories. Housing separates the two most: Mexico reads 42.7 and United States 100, 57.3 index points apart. The two sit closest in Food (88.3 versus 100), only 11.7 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 0 of Mexico's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 0 of United States' 8. These are index values for 2024, not currency amounts; categories without a reported value on either side are left out of the comparison.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
