The process of finding the right software developer can be time-consuming and daunting. Check out this comprehensive guide for more information on why Mexico is a great place to work remotely.
Interested in building a software engineering team outside the U.S.?
Consider hiring top software engineers from Mexico.
Thousands of top-notch computer science graduates and are engineers live and work in Mexico, offering first-rate services at a fraction of what they would charge in the U.S. For instance, the average Mexican software engineer earns $16,416 annually compared with $108,249 for their American counterparts. You can also collaborate and communicate in real-time with your remote hires since Mexico is in the same time zone as the United States.
Explore the benefits of working remotely in Mexico by reading this comprehensive guide. Our discussion will include
- software engineering in Mexico,
- the number of Mexican software engineers,
- the size and growth of Mexico's tech industry, and
- unicorns founded by Mexican engineers.
As part of our discussion, we will discuss the average salary of different types of engineers in Mexico, the importance of hiring remote developers in Mexico, and where to find Mexican software engineers.
An overview of software engineering in Mexico
Before examining the salaries of software engineers in Mexico, let's see how software engineering is taught in Mexico, how many Mexican software engineers there are, how big Mexico's tech industry is, and how much venture capital is invested there. We'll also cover unicorns — startups valued at over $1 billion — that are the products of Mexican engineering.
Mexican SWE Education
Education in software engineering (SWE) in Mexico is of the highest quality.
Before examining the salaries of software engineers in Mexico, let's see how software engineering is taught in Mexico, how many Mexican software engineers there are, how big Mexico's tech industry is, and how much venture capital is invested in their universities. Since then, Mexican universities have produced over 130,000 engineers per year.
Furthermore, 25% of Mexican university graduates are prominent in STEM, the highest rate in Latin America. The universities of Mexico are highly regarded, with several ranking among the top 50 universities in Latin America.
Among them are:
- Mexico's National Autonomous University (#7 in Latin America)
- Monterrey Technological Institute (#23 Latin American university)
- Puebla Autonomous University (Latin America's 30th-best university)
- The National Polytechnic Institute (39th in Latin America)
- San Luis Potos Autonomous University (#43 in Latin America)
- Metropolitan Autonomous University (48th in Latin America)
Tests conducted by international organizations have also been successful for Mexican engineers. According to Coursera's Global Skills Report 2021, Mexico earned top rankings in areas such as:
- (91%) Cloud computing
- (86%) Web development
- (83%) Probability and statistics
- (76%) Computer networking
- (68%) Mobile development
- (55%) Data management
- (55%) Software engineering
- (55%) Mathematics
As well as ranking second in the world for best developers, Mexico was also first in the world for best developers in the 2022 Pentalog report. C/C++ and Python programming was specifically ranked first by Mexican engineers.
Mexico's number of software engineers
Thanks to the government's first-rate SWE education opportunities, there are approximately 800,000 software engineers in Mexico today. Mexican engineers are among the best in Latin America, which makes Mexico a hotbed of engineering talent.
Investments in the tech industry and the size of the industry
The vibrant tech industry in Mexico has attracted international venture capital investment in addition to thousands of software engineers.
Kearney affirms, Over the past five years, Mexico has accounted for 21% of Latin America's private equity investments and 23% of all deals. Over $56 billion has been committed to Mexico's PE/VC market since 2008.
Many investors are attracted to Mexico because of its large consumer market, experienced entrepreneurs, and proximity to the U.S. A total of 48% of VC investments are allocated to Mexico's fintech companies and consumer services companies. The government has played a central role in supporting fintech via the 2018 FinTech law.
Mexican Engineers' Average Salary
Let's look at the salaries in Mexico for different developer roles now that you know what software engineering looks like in the country.
Developer Salary by Role
Engineer salaries in Mexico vary according to the role, just as in the U.S.
Front-End
In addition to designing, building, and implementing the user interface (UI) of apps and websites, front-end engineers are also front-end developers. Site and app designers work closely with them to make them look beautiful, functional, and efficient. The following other responsibilities are also included:
- Enhancing the user experience (UX)
- Solving UI and UX problems
- For testing interfaces, create high-resolution mockups
- Documentation and paperwork preparation, updating, and maintenance
- Sites and apps are tested and troubleshooted
- Accessibility and compatibility issues related to browsers
- Optimizing platforms and tools for real-world use
- Code review participation
- Partnering with the product, engineering, and design teams
- Propose solutions for clients based on new technologies
- Providing mentorship to junior developers
Glassdoor reports that the average Mexican front-end engineer earns 26,711 MXN or the monthly payment is $1,306, which equates to $15,672 per year. Comparatively, the average U.S. front-end engineer makes $125,501 annually.
Back-End
A backend developer designs, develop and maintains the backend of an application or website. Therefore, they are responsible for building and maintaining databases and application programming interfaces (APIs).
Other duties include
- Code library development and maintenance
- Putting in place security measures
- Performing regular speed optimizations on the server code
- Keeping the server stable with no or minimal downtime
- Preventing significant server changes by maintaining a backup library
- Solutions for data storage design and implementation
Using Glassdoor as a reference, the average Mexican backend engineer makes 55,447 MXN, or $2,713 per month, or $32,556 per year. Compared to their U.S. counterparts, who earn an average of $109,589 yearly.
Full-Stack
Front-end and backend engineers are full-stack engineers. As well as UI and UX, they can handle database management, servers, and API development. The following duties are also included:
- Developing relationships with end users and product managers through communication and interaction
- Establishing testing protocols in collaboration with the quality assurance team
- Error detection and correction
- Ensuring the coherence and scalability of the system by working with other teams
- A full-stack development service that starts with wireframes and designs and ends with high-quality code
- Enhancing development efficiency by continuously evolving systems architectures
- Providing mentoring and best practice guidance to junior developers
Full-stack Mexican engineers earn, on average, 40,504 MXN or $1,982 a month, about $23,784 annually. The average income of their American counterparts is $103,842 per year.
