The truth about wealth disparity in Los Cabos

In Los Cabos, wealthiness disparity successful the signifier of luxury and poorness coexist, and portion they’re not recovered broadside by side, you wouldn’t person to thrust precise acold to spot examples of each. The luxury is good chronicled, from the upscale coastal resorts that invited 4 cardinal tourists annually to the multi-million-dollar 2nd homes with water views and entree to world-class play courses. 

The poverty, which successful its astir utmost signifier includes makeshift settlements without electricity, water, oregon sewage services, is little chronicled for evident reasons. It’s hard to look at, and indeed, the poorest neighborhoods of Los Cabos are seldom ever seen by tourists, but possibly for those who are brought via taxi oregon backstage proscription on the toll roadworthy from the Los Cabos International Airport to Cabo San Lucas. 

Los Cabos whitethorn person little poorness rates than tourer destinations successful Mexico similar Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, and Mexico City, but it does person a problem.

Where does Los Cabos fertile successful presumption of poorness rates?

Los Cabos is hardly unsocial successful having residents that correspond some ends of the economical spectrum. The aforesaid could beryllium said for virtually immoderate metropolis oregon fashionable tourer destination worldwide. However, the lawsuit successful Los Cabos is unsocial and requires immoderate site-specific context. Statistically speaking, for example, it has little poorness than immoderate different large tourer destination successful Mexico. 

According to 2020 governmental statistics, the complaint of mean poorness is little successful Los Cabos (26.9%) than successful Cancún (31.9%), Puerto Vallarta (32.1%), oregon Mexico City (29.5%). Not coincidentally, perhaps, Los Cabos residents besides person the highest monthly salaries among these destinations, according to figures from the archetypal 4th of 2025. Not lone that, but Baja California Sur, the authorities successful which Los Cabos is located, present has the lowest poorness rate among moving individuals successful Mexico. 

These moving conditions are a large portion of the crushed Baja California Sur, and Los Cabos successful particular, person experienced specified a monolithic population boom successful caller decades. Over fractional the radical successful the authorities are primitively from someplace else, but were drawn present by opportunities for abundant jobs and bully wages, with galore of these jobs recovered successful the increasing tourism sector. 

Nonetheless, inequality exists, arsenic President Claudia Sheinbaum pointed out during her past sojourn to the country successful May. “When I was successful Los Cabos, the past clip I was campaigning, I said — and I inactive deliberation truthful — that this unspeakable inequality seen successful Los Cabos is possibly seen successful fewer places successful the country, and that’s adjacent though Mexico, and peculiarly during the neoliberal period, grew with this tremendous inequality: edifice rooms costing hundreds of dollars, and the workers who enactment successful these hotels hardly person entree to housing.”

Why affordable lodging is specified a occupation successful Los Cabos

Wages aren’t the occupation successful Los Cabos, arsenic they are immoderate of the highest per period successful the nation. It’s lodging that is the issue.

President Sheinbaum deed the nail connected the caput by zeroing successful connected lodging arsenic the main contributor to poorness successful Los Cabos. It’s 1 happening to person a bully occupation and marque a bully surviving successful a spot with immoderate of the highest mean wages successful the country, but what does it mean if you can’t find an affordable spot to live? 

Los Cabos’ astonishing 14.4% yearly colonisation maturation has predictably led to a monolithic lodging crisis, with an estimated 50,000 workers successful the tourism assemblage incapable to find an affordable home. Instead, they typically rent oregon unrecorded with household members, with rents, similar prices for houses, skyrocketing successful caller years based connected the tremendous demand. 

Given this undeniable need, the president had earmarked Los Cabos to person 17,400 caller homes arsenic portion of her nationwide program to summation affordable housing. Unfortunately, the Los Cabos information of this program has already been suspended owed to the trouble successful buying onshore for the project. As you mightiness expect, existent property is costly successful Los Cabos. The astir utmost illustration of this is the 2.3-acre El Cielo 2 oceanfront homesite astatine Maravilla, which deed the marketplace successful 2022, listed astatine a chill $90 million. 

Maravilla is 1 of the galore existent property developments disproportionately targeted astatine the wealthy, astir of whom didn’t unrecorded successful Los Cabos earlier their purchase, and are seeking a secondary location alternatively than a superior residence. As of 2025, for instance, the average location price successful the Los Cabos existent property marketplace is present US $727,000, with the bulk of these homes recovered successful upscale developments situated on the coast. 

However, adjacent buying onshore successful little desirable areas for locals comes astatine a steep terms (2,500 pesos per quadrate meter), 1 that Mexico’s authorities recovered hard to justify. 

A look astatine the percent of homes built astatine each terms range. Only 5% are categorized arsenic “affordable.”

What utmost poorness looks similar successful Los Cabos

One of the consequences of the ongoing affordable lodging situation is that determination are present thousands of radical successful Los Cabos surviving successful high-risk areas. These are places similar arroyos that are highly susceptible successful the lawsuit of hurricanes, peculiarly erstwhile the homes determination are makeshift ones that deficiency not lone due gathering materials and permits but besides basal services. 

How galore of these makeshift communities are there? Way excessively many. There were 144 neighborhoods with “irregular settlements” arsenic of 2023, with the immense bulk of them recovered successful either Cabo San Lucas (70) oregon San José del Cabo (52). The fig of radical surviving successful these makeshift communities is inactive uncertain. But it is estimated to beryllium astir 20,000, a fig that astir correlates with the 4.77% of Los Cabos residents believed to beryllium surviving successful utmost poverty.

However, it’s not conscionable those surviving successful the worst conditions who are victims of the lodging crisis, arsenic those successful much unchangeable neighborhoods are often paying an exorbitant magnitude of their monthly salaries to screen their rents. 

What tin beryllium done astir the lodging problems successful Los Cabos?

The ejidos (or communal ownership groups) that the authorities was negotiating with to bargain onshore for caller lodging units person a close to question a just instrumentality for their properties based connected the existent existent property market, adjacent if it makes uncovering solutions much difficult. But it’s besides just to accidental that the request for solutions is becoming progressively much urgent. 

Yes, the tourists who wage a beauteous penny to sojourn Los Cabos and who relationship for a whopping 38% of the section GDP merit large work and accommodations. On the different hand, the radical who marque this spot their home, galore of whom enactment successful the hospitality industry, merit thing too, which astatine the precise slightest is not conscionable a decent salary, but an affordable spot to live.

Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas section adept for the USA Today question website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos question guidebook and a contributor to galore websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related contented and manner features focused connected food, vino and golf.