Salaries of Mexico's Elected Offices: An Examination
Mexico City, 14 September — President Claudia Sheinbaum's monthly gross salary stands at 193,706 pesos (approximately US $10,424), according to official records. This salary, set by the Mexican Constitution, serves as a legal ceiling for salaries for federal, state, and municipal politicians.
Sheinbaum's cabinet ministers, such as Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez, earn monthly gross salaries that are less than 2% lower than Sheinbaum's salary. The average gross monthly salary of a formal sector worker in Mexico was 614.3 pesos (US $33) at the end of July, according to the Mexican Social Security Institute.
In comparison, the average monthly salary of a mayor in late 2024 was 8,170 pesos (US $440), according to Data México. Some mayors, including some in the state of Puebla, earn gross monthly salaries of around 100,000 pesos (US $5,375). The governor of Chiapas has a gross monthly salary of 51,321 pesos ($2,761), much lower than the governor of Guanajuato.
The governor of Guanajuato had a gross monthly salary of 252,126 pesos (US $13,566) in 2024, more than 20% higher than President Sheinbaum's salary. According to the Guanajuato government's transparency website, Governor Libia García Muñoz Ledo's net monthly salary is 173,731 pesos (US $9,348), which could make her the highest-paid politician in Mexico.
However, the story doesn't end with official salaries. Including benefits, Sheinbaum's annual gross salary is almost 2.9 million pesos (US $156,000). After deductions, her annual salary is about 2.07 million pesos (US $111,500). In contrast, the U.S. President Donald Trump's (excluding benefits) gross annual salary is US $400,000, more than triple Sheinbaum's gross annual salary.
Moreover, there remain concerns about additional income opportunities beyond official wages, such as corruption, that can increase politicians' effective earnings. Sheinbaum has stated that her salary and those of other high-ranking officials won't increase during her six-year term in government. Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador emphasized "republican austerity" by cutting his own salary and those of other politicians during his term, maintaining a precedent of restrained official pay which Sheinbaum has upheld.
Despite the legal caps on salaries, numerous corruption cases involving Mexican politicians, including former Veracruz governor Javier Duarte, who was convicted of money laundering and organized crime, highlight the need for transparency and accountability in the political sphere. Precise salary tables for all federal, state, and municipal politicians were not found in the sources, but the key point is that official salaries are capped at the presidential level, with Sheinbaum set at about 193,706 pesos per month and her ministers and other politicians earning less.
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