Decision Engine — Tool 07
Labor Availability Heat Map.
Where the wage column tells you cost — and where the unemployment column tells you whether you can actually staff the floor. v1 covers the 10 states that absorb most US-to-Mexico FDI: Cushman & Wakefield 4-position wage benchmarks, INEGI ENOE state-level unemployment, IMSS formal-employment registry, and the manufacturing-cluster context that determines whether your second shift is staffed.
Coverage
10 states · primary industrial cities
Cushman publishes city-level data for 7 of 10; Tetakawi operational payroll fills Saltillo and Hermosillo; INEGI / IMSS provide state-level baselines across all.
Sources
INEGI ENOE · IMSS · Cushman · Tetakawi
Hand-curated per ADR 0012; INEGI XLSX→API translation gap blocks automation today (per ADR 0009 operational addendum).
Refresh
Quarterly (ENOE) · Reviewed: 2026-05-01
Next scheduled review: 2026-08-31 (Q2 2026 ENOE close + Cushman annual). Open access — no qualification required.
Compare states (10 of 10 selected)
Labor dimension
Chihuahua
northwest
Submarket: Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez 4-position production-laborer average $2.83 USD/hr; semi-skilled production avg $3.86 USD/hr per Cushman Q4 2025. Border Free Zone minimum wage premium pushes Juárez above national 4-position average ($3.65 production / $3.53 warehouse). Tetakawi's fully-fringed entry-level benchmark for the border region runs ~$7.50–8.00 USD/hr.
Cushman & Wakefield Mexico Industrial Labor Report Q4 2025
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Nuevo León
northeast
Submarket: Monterrey metropolitan area
Monterrey 2nd-highest in country after Mexico City — wages 31% (production) and 31% (warehouse) above national 4-position average per Cushman Q4 2025. Production-laborer base $3.16 USD/hr. Tetakawi's fully-fringed entry-level for Monterrey: $7.00–7.50 USD/hr — the headquarters + corporate-competition premium. Saltillo (85 km away) runs $6.00–6.50 USD/hr — model NL and Coahuila as distinct.
Cushman & Wakefield Mexico Industrial Labor Report Q4 2025
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Coahuila
northeast
Submarket: Saltillo + Ramos Arizpe (Torreón secondary)
Saltillo runs 10–15% below Monterrey for comparable direct labor — $6.00–6.50 USD/hr fully-fringed entry-level operator (Tetakawi 2026 operational payroll, ~$6.43 average). Saltillo 39% manufacturing workforce share (deepest in country); ~$292 MXN/day base direct pay vs $292 in Monterrey but goes to $397 fully-fringed after a year vs Monterrey's $528 — meaningful retention math. Cushman Q4 2025 does not separately publish Saltillo.
Tetakawi Manufacturing Wages Mexico 2026 Benchmark Guide (Saltillo operational payroll)
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Sonora
northwest
Submarket: Hermosillo + Guaymas + Empalme + Nogales
Hermosillo $5.71 USD/hr fully-fringed entry-level operator per Tetakawi 2026 (operational payroll). Guaymas $5.28; Mazatlán $4.83 (Sinaloa border). Northwest carries some of the strongest cost-to-stability ratios in Mexico — wages well below border + Monterrey, with workforce retention rates outperforming higher-cost regions. ~45% of Hermosillo direct labor workers earn ~2.7x minimum wage. Cushman Q4 2025 does not separately publish Hermosillo.
Tetakawi Manufacturing Wages Mexico 2026 Benchmark Guide (Hermosillo operational payroll)
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Baja California
northwest
Submarket: Tijuana + Mexicali + Tecate (Cali-Baja megaregion)
Tijuana wages 8% above country 4-position average (production + warehouse) per Cushman Q4 2025. Production-laborer base $2.83 USD/hr. Border Free Zone minimum wage premium drives wages above non-border regions. Tetakawi fully-fringed entry-level Tijuana ~$7.00–8.00 USD/hr — among the highest direct-labor costs in country. Highest workforce concentration of any Mexican border city.
Cushman & Wakefield Mexico Industrial Labor Report Q4 2025
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Querétaro
bajio
Submarket: Querétaro capital + El Marqués + San Juan del Río
Querétaro 3rd-highest wages nationally for 4-position production + warehouse roles per Cushman Q4 2025 (after Mexico City and Monterrey). Production-laborer base $2.72 USD/hr. Querétaro ranks in the top 4 metros for average monthly urban household income at $31,728 MXN. Wage premium reflects high demand from auto + aerospace + electronics + data center sectors.
Cushman & Wakefield Mexico Industrial Labor Report Q4 2025
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Guanajuato
bajio
Submarket: León + Silao + Salamanca + Celaya + Irapuato
Cushman Q4 2025 does not separately publish León/Silao/Bajío wages. Tetakawi 2026 estimates Bajío entry-level operators at ~$5.50–6.00 USD/hr fully-fringed — sweet-spot positioning between Northwest baseline and Northeast premium. Strong auto + light manufacturing cluster (GM, Mazda, VW components, Toyota suppliers) drives standardized wage benchmarks across León–Silao corridor.
Tetakawi Manufacturing Wages Mexico 2026 (Bajío estimates)
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
San Luis Potosí
bajio
Submarket: SLP capital + Logistik + Villa de Reyes corridor
SLP 4-position production wage $3.67 USD/hr — close to national average ($3.65 production / $3.53 warehouse) per Cushman Q4 2025. Production-laborer base $2.61 USD/hr. Below Querétaro and Mexico City premiums; positioned competitively with Aguascalientes and Bajío peers. Tetakawi: SLP among lowest fully-loaded costs alongside Aguascalientes within the Bajío.
Cushman & Wakefield Mexico Industrial Labor Report Q4 2025
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Jalisco
central
Submarket: Guadalajara metropolitan area (El Salto + Zapopan + Tlaquepaque)
Guadalajara wages near Cd Juárez levels for 4-position roles per Cushman Q4 2025. Production-laborer base $2.74 USD/hr. Jalisco's IT + electronics cluster (Mexico's primary IT hub) drives engineering and bilingual-tech wage premiums above the 4-position averages — Cushman flags Jalisco (and adjacent Querétaro) as strong on bilingual/tech-skilled talent.
Cushman & Wakefield Mexico Industrial Labor Report Q4 2025
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Puebla
central
Submarket: Puebla city + Cuautlancingo + Huejotzingo + San José Chiapa (Audi)
Puebla 4-position wages 11% above national average for production / 11% above for warehouse per Cushman Q4 2025 — modestly elevated reflecting VW and Audi anchor demand. Production-laborer base $2.83 USD/hr. Wage levels track between Bajío peers and Mexico City.
Cushman & Wakefield Mexico Industrial Labor Report Q4 2025
Primary source →Verified 2026-05-01
Field note
Average fully-loaded hourly wage for 4-position manufacturing roles (assembler, machine operator, packer, forklift operator), in USD/hour. Cushman & Wakefield Q4 2025 Industrial Labor Report is the spine for 9 cities; Tetakawi operational data fills Saltillo and Hermosillo. National Q4 2025 average per Cushman: production $3.65 / warehouse $3.53 USD/hr — these are 4-position averages, NOT fully-fringed entry-level operator costs. Tetakawi's fully-fringed entry-level benchmark is $5.44 USD/hr; the gap reflects Cushman's narrower 4-position-average scope vs. Tetakawi's full-burden methodology. Use Cushman for cross-city comparability; use Tetakawi for full-burden cost modeling.
Methodology and what v1 does not model
INEGI's Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo (ENOE) is the official Mexican labor-market source — quarterly per-state bulletins, definitionally aligned with international labor standards. IMSS Trabajadores Asegurados is the formal-sector registry. Cushman & Wakefield Mexico Industrial Labor Report Q4 2025 publishes city-level wage benchmarks for 9 cities; Tetakawi operational payroll fills Saltillo and Hermosillo. v1 is hand-curated per ADR 0012 (the same pattern as wages-mx.json) because INEGI's XLSX → API translation gap blocks automated extraction at this granularity (ADR 0009 operational addendum 2026-05-01).
In v1
Manufacturing wage (Cushman 4-position production + warehouse averages where published; Tetakawi operational payroll where not), workforce size (Cushman manufacturing employment + IMMEX personnel where published; INEGI ENOE state-level otherwise), formal employment (IMSS Trabajadores Asegurados, monthly snapshot), and unemployment rate (INEGI ENOE Tasa de Desocupación, quarterly).
v1 does NOT model
Cushman 4-position averages are NOT fully-burdened employer costs — they're posted wages for assemblers, machine operators, packers, and forklift operators. Add IMSS, INFONAVIT, aguinaldo, vacation premium, and severance accrual to model fully-fringed cost (typically +80–150% per Tetakawi's 2026 cost guide). Turnover rates (5%/month border vs. 2%/month Saltillo) are not modeled. Sector-specific wage premiums (engineering, bilingual-tech, aerospace certifications) are not surfaced. Municipio-level granularity is constrained by INEGI's 39-city ENOE coverage.
v2 — full 32-state + skill overlays
Expand to all 32 federal entities. Add sector-specific wage overlays for EV, aerospace, medical devices, and electronics — verticals with meaningful wage premiums above the 4-position averages. Surface turnover-rate benchmarks and IMMEX-personnel breakdowns where Tetakawi or other partners publish them.
v3 — fully-fringed cost calculator
Combine Cushman's 4-position bases with the statutory benefits stack (IMSS contribution rates, INFONAVIT 5%, aguinaldo 15-day equivalent, vacation premium, severance accrual) to produce a fully-burdened annual cost per role per city. Same composability pattern as Tools 06 (effective ISN) and 08 (TOU bill model) v3 calculators.
Adjacent reading
Adjacent tool
US vs Mexico labor cost differential at the national level. The headline number that pairs with the per-state intelligence above. v3 wires this state-level grid into the national comparison engine.
Adjacent tool
ISN payroll-tax abatements, training institutes, fast-track permitting. Same 10 states. The fiscal layer that pairs with the labor layer above — and the sister-tool that v3 will combine into a fully-loaded cost-per-headcount output.
Audit-grade work
Full HR + payroll + benefits administration under shelter agreement. Where the wage benchmark becomes a turnkey workforce, with retention engineering, IMSS / INFONAVIT compliance, and the bilingual-tech recruitment pipeline that staffs your second shift.