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Planning tool

Operational base calculator

Set your region, facility type and headcount to model your true monthly operating cost. Unlike standard real estate models, this baseline integrates facility overhead with Mexico's fully loaded statutory labour burdens and state payroll taxes, giving corporate finance teams a complete view of their real operating cash outflow.

Facility type
5005382 sq ft20,000
10500
$500$4,000

Estimated monthly operational baseline

Q3 2026 benchmarks

$10,894/ mo

Base facility rent
$3,700
NNN, utilities and maintenance (12%)
$444
Gross base payroll
$5,000
Fully-loaded employer burden (32%)
$1,600
State payroll tax (ISN 3%)
$150
Realistic setup
100–120 days
Vacancy
1.90%

Regional insightTechnology ecosystem balancing light manufacturing with substantial hardware and software capability.

Operational and fiscal compliance notice

  • Operating under an IMMEX framework in Guadalajara requires Article 28-A VAT/IEPS certification to defer the 16% value-added tax on imported raw materials.

An indicative model, not a quotation. We confirm current rates, timelines and the applicable ISN against your actual case during the diagnostic.

Worked examples

Three profiles, run through the same model

Illustrative operating profiles rather than client engagements. Each total below is calculated by the estimator above, so the numbers cannot drift apart.

Guadalajara

Electronics assembly

A contract manufacturer taking a board-level line into the Jalisco supply base, with a small firmware team alongside it.

Space required (m²)
4,000 m² (43,056 sq ft)
Headcount
120
Avg monthly base salary (USD)
$1,100

Modelled monthly baseline$211,352/ mo

See the Guadalajara profile

Querétaro

Aerospace machining

A tier-two supplier placing certified machining next to the Querétaro aerospace cluster and its training pipeline.

Space required (m²)
6,000 m² (64,584 sq ft)
Headcount
180
Avg monthly base salary (USD)
$1,300

Modelled monthly baseline$356,220/ mo

See the Querétaro profile

Mexico City

E-commerce fulfilment

A distributor buying same-day reach into the Valle de México rather than the cheapest square metre available.

Space required (m²)
8,000 m² (86,112 sq ft)
Headcount
90
Avg monthly base salary (USD)
$900

Modelled monthly baseline$195,280/ mo

See the Mexico City profile

These profiles are illustrative and are not descriptions of specific clients. Each total is fully loaded: facility, operating cost, payroll, employer burden and state payroll tax. Salary assumptions are entry-to-mid operator and technician bands; a plant weighted to engineers will sit materially higher.

Assumptions

What this model assumes

An estimate is only useful if you can see what is behind it. These are the four assumptions doing the work.

Opex at 12% of rent
Maintenance, NNN charges and utilities are modelled as a share of base rent. Real figures vary with the building and the park; a triple-net lease in a newer park usually lands close.
Labour burden at 32%
IMSS employer quotas, the escalating pension reform contributions, the 15-day aguinaldo and the vacation premium. Fully loaded this typically runs 30–35% of gross payroll depending on salary band; the model uses 32% as a midpoint. It sits inside the total, because leaving it out is how foreign budgets end up a third short.
ISN at the applicable state rate
The state payroll tax is set by each state. Three of the five regions here levy 3.0%. Mexico City is modelled at 4.0% to absorb localised corporate surcharges, and Yucatán at 3.75% under the 2026 Ley de Hacienda.
2026 median rates
Rent is a median point rate from current market intelligence. Where it differs from the range published on a region page, the region page carries the earlier research and this carries the 2026 median.

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