The right to a minimum wage sufficient to meet the basic needs of workers is enshrined in the Mexican Constitution. Minimum wages in the country are set on a daily basis, ensuring workers receive a set amount for each day worked. On January 1, 2025, the Mexican minimum wage, which is set by the National Minimum Wage Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Salarios Mínimos or CONASAMI), received a considerable 12 percent increase nationwide.
With this increase, the nationwide minimum wage is now MXN $278.80 per day (or approximately USD $13.76) and the minimum wage for the Free Zone of the Northern Border (Zona Libre de la Frontera Norte or ZLFN), the area along the northern border of Mexico, which encompasses the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, is now MXN $419.88 per day (or approximately USD $20.72). The 12 percent increase will also apply to workers in 61 professions and trades who are entitled to special professional minimum wage. Specific professions impacted include construction workers, cashiers, agricultural laborers, domestic workers, and masons and bulldozer operators.
This increase is meant to combat inflation and is part of Mexico’s overall commitment to addressing social inequality in the country by bridging the gap between employees’ earnings and the cost of living. President Claudia Sheinbaum has stated that it’s her government’s goal to make the minimum wage equivalent to 2.5 times the urban income poverty line by the end of her six-year term and that it intends to continue increasing the minimum wage by 12% in subsequent years. This change is seen as a way to comply with labor standards set by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and is in line with the International Labour Organization’s guidelines on setting a minimum wage that reflects the cost of living and economic factors.
