2.14/5
263 reviews
Photo by Laurentiu Morariu via Unsplash

Merida

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safe

speak

good

nightlife

work

stayed

great

restaurants

police

stuff

flat

boring

cheaper

centro

sleepy

safety

mayan

ruins

english

Merida is widely considered a very safe city, with a strong police presence and low crime rates frequently noted by visitors and residents alike. Safety is one of the most commonly praised features, making it a comfortable place to live or stay long-term. Rent is highly affordable compared to other cities in Mexico, and though the cheaper areas may lack some amenities, the overall cost of living is low. Many people also highlight the friendliness of locals, and while not all will speak English readily, it's possible to get by without fluent Spanish.

The city offers basic amenities, reliable transportation, and solid internet—suitable for remote work. However, several reviewers emphasized that Merida can be boring, especially after completing a few tourist activities. The nightlife is minimal, parks and green spaces are limited, and public life slows down significantly on Sundays. The intense heat for most of the year can be challenging, and for foreigners, the rental process is often complicated unless they have local contacts.

Overall, Merida is best suited for people seeking safety, affordability, and a quiet lifestyle over vibrant city life or nightlife. It’s a good base for work and local exploration but less ideal for those seeking excitement or dynamic entertainment options.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Safe, because it's basically a police state. Two cop cars on every block. After you've done the tourist stuff there really isn't much to do. Almost no nightlife center, flat, no parks, and I have to say it's a very boring city. If you just need a place that is cheaper than Playa Del Carmen and want to rent a house to hole up and work, then Merida might be for you. Personally after a week I found it very boring.

2 years ago

I've stayed in Merida for about 1 month during winter. I really enjoyed the Merida fest which take place during the month of January.
I felt very safe in this city and people are very friendly. There are plenty of cafes in Centro where you can work and the internet is quite good. Overall, it's a great place to be and I would see myself stay for a long time.

2 years ago

I've stayed in Merida for about 10 weeks now. It's a cute sleepy city with a good amount of restaurants and museums/history if you're into that sort of stuff. I cannot speak about the nightlife because I'm here during Covid times and the lockdown is real. The city is flat as a pancake, so if you're into cycling, this is a great city for you. The heat in this city is oppressive starting in March through the end of October. I've asked many locals why they come here and their number one response is safety, this is one of the "sleepy" cities which is where the families of the cartels live and so they've made a pact that no crime will happen here.

4 years ago

I've stayed in Merida about 5 months. Its okay. There is not much to do here other than go to visit ancient Mayan ruins, cenotes, restaurants and a few cantinas. Its a huge police presence and its really safe here. The nightlife is not good here. I would not recommend renting here because they want you to pay your entire lease upfront if you don't have a Mexican who owns property to co-sign for you. Most of the people here are nice. Many of them speak English but won't speak it because they're afraid they wont speak it correctly. Most of the restaurants mainly serve the local Mayan cuisine here but there are other options but it will get expensive. Some of the best food I've had is in Centro but there are many good options around the city. The beach is not far away. Its about a 45 minute drive by Uber or Didi that costs about $130 to $180 pesos. Sundays are quite slowed down here. If you are looking for a slower small town pace, Merida may be the place for you. Otherwise, there is nothing exciting about this place other than the safety here. Its really safe here.

4 years ago

Merida is a great place to work from with lots of people and many whom speak English, in fact I've been back i liked it so much. Rentals are very affordable, some of the cheapest in Mexico, but of course the cheaper it is the area isn't the best. There is much to do here, from heading to the Gulf of Mexico about an hour away, to visiting the ruins. Many, many places to eat and cuisines from around the world and for those who miss shopping at Costco no need to fear one is close by. Drive to Progreso and watch flamingos. Some say it's not safe here but I never had any difficulties and never felt threatened. Transportation is not a problem and is fairly cheap and plentiful

5 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Affordable rent

✅ Good internet

✅ Friendly people

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Perfect humidity now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Democratic

✅ Safe for women

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Very hot climate

❌ Boring city

❌ Limited nightlife

❌ Difficult rental process for foreigners

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not very safe

❌ Not much to do

❌ Very hot in the summer

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not family friendly

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

30°C / 86°F warm

35°C / 95°F hot

38°C / 100°F hot

43°C / 109°F scorching

44°C / 111°F scorching

46°C / 115°F scorching

42°C / 108°F scorching

32°C / 90°F hot

35°C / 95°F hot

Real (median)

27°C / 80°F
warm

30°C / 85°F
very warm

31°C / 88°F
hot

34°C / 92°F
hot

33°C / 91°F
hot

32°C / 90°F
hot

31°C / 88°F
hot

28°C / 82°F
very warm

30°C / 85°F
very warm

Humidity

sweaty
80%

sweaty
77%

sweaty
71%

nice
69%

sweaty
76%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
86%

sweaty
85%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
78%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
23mm

dry
8mm

dry
14mm

dry
27mm

rainy
54mm

rainy
128mm

rainy
97mm

rainy
100mm

rainy
132mm

rainy
93mm

dry
23mm

dry
24mm

Cloud

pockets
35%

pockets
21%

pockets
17%

pockets
21%

pockets
32%

pockets
44%

pockets
33%

pockets
39%

pockets
31%

pockets
27%

pockets
24%

Air quality

okay
62 US AQI

clean
0** US AQI

okay
74 US AQI

okay
71 US AQI

okay
77 US AQI

okay
60 US AQI

okay
52 US AQI

okay
55 US AQI

Sun

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
11 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

Remote workers

900 people

867 people

800 people

486 people

600 people

350 people

400 people

500 people

600 people

680 people

655 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Merida's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	Full Stack Engineer @ MediaLab
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Help pick the best photos for Merida and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.14/5 (Rank #843) 263 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍3 liked it 👎3 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,657 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 11Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 37°C99°F (feels 49°C120°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 55%
👌 Safety	Okay
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Bad
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $704 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Okay
🧳 Lost luggage*	Bad
🏥 Hospitals	Bad
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Good
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Okay
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Mexico
🗓️ Average trip length	10 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	11 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 37°C 99°F + 😊 Comfy (55%) = feels 49°C 120°F
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 MXN in USD	USD 5.21
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	MXN 10,000 = USD 521
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	9% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	780,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$8,444 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 46% 👱‍♀️ 54%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 51% 👱‍♀️ 49%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 73% 👱‍♀️ 27%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Linio
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Volaris
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Aeromexico

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,657 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$977 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,038 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$582 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,015 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,443 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$318 / month
🏠 Median home price	$129,818
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$48 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$47 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$141 / month
🍛 Dinner	$5
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$3
👩‍🏫 International school	$3,596 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$7 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$4 / trip