Merida, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, and Mexico City are some of the top Mexican cities with the best quality of life in the Latin American country, according to the Urban Competitiveness Index 2022 (ICU) of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).
The ICU 2022 is a tool to measure and understand the factors that make a city attractive for talent and investment.
The index evaluates the conditions of 66 Mexican cities, considering sub-indicators such as law, environment, society, and political system.
In this sense, the society sub-index measures the inhabitants’ quality of life through three areas: education, health, and inclusion, from which it returns a general panorama of the opportunities in each state and the conditions of the well-being of the citizenry.
The measurement starts from indicators of educational coverage, medical supply, health services, and socioeconomic conditions such as poverty and inequality.
According to IMCO, when a “city offers better opportunities for progress and upward social mobility for its entire population, it is much more attractive for talent and investments.”
Thus, these are the ten cities best evaluated by the research center regarding the quality of life their inhabitants enjoy.
MERIDA
In the state of Yucatan (southeast), Merida has the best quality of life in Mexico, according to ICU 2022.
It has one of the best educational coverage in the country, with seven out of every ten children in school.
SAN LUIS POTOSÍ
This city in central Mexico ranks second among the cities with the best quality of life.
According to IMCO, the population of Potosí has a good level of schooling.
At the same time, the gender gap is reduced, and there are few people below the welfare line, along with low infant mortality.
QUERÉTARO
Querétaro, also in central Mexico but located south of San Luis Potosí, has high educational coverage and is the second city nationwide with the lowest rate of people below the welfare line.
It also scored well in terms of high schooling and socially responsible people.
MEXICO CITY AND THE METROPOLITAN AREA
The metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico ranks fourth in the list of the ten cities with the best quality of life, according to this analysis.
This is because the gender and education wage gap is small.
It also achieves this position because of its educational coverage and population with a higher level of schooling.
CHIHUAHUA
Located in the north of the Latin American country, Chihuahua has one of the country’s best educational coverage and schooling rates.
It also has a considerable number of socially responsible companies and has a low level of people below the welfare threshold.
As if that were not enough, it is one of the localities with the greatest accessibility to education for women.
GUADALAJARA
The Guadalajara metropolitan area in western Mexico is ranked number six because it maintains acceptable levels in all indicators.
Its education and health services coverage is very good, while gender, equality, and income gaps are moderate.
SALTILLO
This is Coahuila’s capital and most populous city in the north, and it also scored well in all aspects that were rated.
It has good coverage in educational services and access to medical services.
However, it is not among the best cities regarding gender equity, as few women work and study.
AGUASCALIENTES
In central Mexico, Aguascalientes obtained balanced scores in all areas.
With an acceptable health and education coverage rate, this city ranked number eight on the list. Regarding women’s access to education, 11% of women do not attend school.
MONTERREY
In the north, the capital of Nuevo Leon has a very low rate of people below the welfare line.
It also maintains good evaluations regarding access to education and the maximum level of schooling. However, it does not have good coverage in health services.
TIJUANA
The border city of Tijuana, located in the state of Baja, California, and a conurbation structure with San Diego, California, is the one that obtained the lowest rate of people below the welfare line.
Its education coverage is acceptable, although access to health services is among the poorest in the ranking.
With information from Sputnik