Key facts at a glance
£90,000 UK, net
£62,757/yr
£5,230/month, 69.7% retained
Equivalent MXN gross
$2,095,200
£1 = $23.28 MXN (early August 2026)
MX net (ISR only)
$1,517,589/yr
$126,466/month, 72.4% retained
A UK salary of £90,000 nets £62,757 a year (£5,230/month), 69.7% of gross. Converted at roughly £1 = $23.28 MXN, that's $2,095,200 MXN. Under Mexico's federal ISR, it nets $1,517,589 MXN a year ($126,466/month), 72.4% retained, a slightly higher percentage than the UK figure.
That gap is real but comes with an asterisk: the Mexico figure is ISR only, IMSS employee contributions aren't included (see below for why), so your actual Mexico take-home will land somewhat lower than shown, likely narrowing the percentage gap versus the UK rather than closing it entirely.
Run your own UK figure against the Mexico calculator.
Open the Mexico calculatorHow the comparison actually works, step by step
Start with your UK gross salary and run it through Income Tax (20%/40%/45% bands above the Personal Allowance) and National Insurance (8%/2%) to get your UK net. Convert to MXN at a current live rate, we've used £1 = $23.28 MXN (early August 2026) throughout this article, but check a live rate before making any real decision since GBP/MXN moves with market conditions.
Then run the MXN figure through Mexico's federal ISR tarifa mensual (11 progressive monthly bands, 1.92% to 35%, annualized). This comparison stops there deliberately: IMSS employee contributions are real but split across multiple sub-items with UMA-based caps, materially more complex than a flat rate, so adding a guessed IMSS number would risk a worse error than leaving it out and flagging the gap clearly.
UK take-home vs Mexico take-home, three salary points
Converted at £1 = $23.28 MXN (early August 2026). The Mexico column shows ISR only; your real MX net will be somewhat lower once IMSS is deducted.
| UK gross | MXN equivalent | UK net (% retained) | MX net, ISR only (% retained) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £60,000 | $1,396,800 | £45,357/yr (£3,780/mo)75.6% | $1,050,529/yr ($87,544/mo)75.2% |
| £90,000 | $2,095,200 | £62,757/yr (£5,230/mo)69.7% | $1,517,589/yr ($126,466/mo)72.4% |
| £120,000 | $2,793,600 | £75,914/yr (£6,326/mo)63.3% | $1,978,533/yr ($164,878/mo)70.8% |
UK net figures from the UK Take-Home Calculator (2026/27 HMRC rates). MX net figures from the Mexico Salary Calculator (2026 SAT tarifa mensual, ISR only).
Two things to check before you trust these numbers
This comparison is a point-in-time snapshot at £1 = $23.28 MXN (early August 2026). GBP/MXN moves with broader market conditions, ranging roughly $22.80–$23.75 over the prior 90 days, so re-check a live rate before treating any of these MXN figures as fixed, especially if you're negotiating a nearshore contract or planning a currency transfer.
The bigger caveat is IMSS: this comparison's Mexico column is ISR only. Your real Mexico net will be lower once IMSS employee contributions are deducted, the exact amount depends on your salary level and which IMSS sub-items apply, so treat the MX percentages here as a ceiling, not a guarantee.
Compare your own UK and Mexico offers
Run your UK salary and your Mexico offer side by side.
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Frequently asked questions
Is take-home pay higher in the UK or Mexico?
As a percentage of gross salary, Mexico's ISR-only take-home consistently retains a slightly higher share than the UK at every level checked here: a UK £90,000 salary retains 69.7% (£62,757), while the FX-equivalent $2,095,200 MXN retains 72.4% ($1,517,589 MXN) under Mexico's federal ISR. That gap widens at higher salaries since the UK's 45% additional rate band bites harder than Mexico's 35% ISR ceiling. The important caveat: the Mexico figure excludes IMSS employee contributions (see below), so your real Mexico net is somewhat lower than shown, likely narrowing or possibly reversing the gap depending on your income level.
Why does this comparison exclude IMSS from the Mexico side?
Because IMSS employee contributions aren't a single flat rate the way ISR is. They're split across several sub-items (enfermedad y maternidad, invalidez y vida, cesantía en edad avanzada y vejez, and more), several of which use the UMA (a government reference value) rather than your actual salary as their base, each with a different cap. Approximating that as a flat percentage risks a materially wrong number, so this comparison is transparent that it's ISR-only on the Mexico side, while the UK side includes both Income Tax and National Insurance in full.
Does the FX rate used here change the comparison much?
It shifts the absolute MXN figures, but not the underlying structural story. This comparison uses £1 = $23.28 MXN (early August 2026), but GBP/MXN moves with market conditions (it's ranged roughly $22.80–$23.75 over the prior 90 days), so check a live rate before treating any of these MXN figures as fixed, particularly if you're negotiating a nearshore contract or transferring relocation funds.
Is this a realistic scenario for a UK tech worker moving to Mexico?
It's most realistic for someone taking a Mexican-payroll role, whether locally hired, hired by a Mexico City or Guadalajara-based employer, or brought on through an EOR (employer of record) as a formal empleado. It's less directly applicable if you're a UK remote worker keeping a UK employer while physically based in Mexico, since your UK tax position (and potential UK employer payroll obligations) would need separate analysis, and Mexican tax residency rules could apply depending on how long you stay.
How does Mexico's cost of living compare to the UK, on top of this take-home comparison?
This article is scoped to take-home pay only. Mexico City and Guadalajara generally run meaningfully below London on cost of living, particularly housing, though international-standard neighbourhoods in Mexico City (Polanco, Roma Norte, Condesa) have risen noticeably in recent years with the influx of remote workers and digital nomads. A dedicated cost-of-living comparison would be a natural follow-up to the tax-only numbers here.
What about nearshore tech salaries specifically?
Nearshore tech salaries in Mexico (Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey) are typically quoted in USD by employers targeting the US market, not MXN, and sit well above the national median across all sectors. See our dedicated nearshore tech salary insight for role-and-city-level USD benchmarks and what they convert to after ISR.
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