Two Mexican states stand out for having the highest participation rates of employed people: Quintana Roo and Yucatán. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, both states maintain their position as one of the most dynamic regions for promoting employment.
Quintana Roo boasts a 66% economically active population, with 971,564 employed individuals, while Yucatán reports a 65.6% rate, with 1.2 million people in the workforce during the first quarter of the year. These figures place them among the top five states for employment, ranking behind only Baja California Sur and Nayarit.
The economic dynamism that has drawn increased investment to both states has also fueled a surge in tourism. Mérida and Cancún are the cities with the highest employment rates, with 65% and 64.1%, respectively. These rates translate to a total of 648,469 employed people in the Yucatecan capital and 464,860 in the Mexican Caribbean.
In contrast, Campeche lags behind with just 439,803 workers. However, all three states are ranked green within the national Working Poverty indicator, which measures the percentage of workers who can afford to buy food with their income.
Quintana Roo has a remarkably low rate of working poverty, with only two out of every 10 workers struggling to make ends meet at 22.3%. Yucatán’s rate is slightly higher at 26.1%, while Campeche stands at 34.8%.
Regarding critical working conditions, both states have double-digit indicators, with Quintana Roo reporting a rate of up to 34.9% and Yucatán at 33.7%. This suggests that the working population in these regions is more vulnerable due to limited access to social security, low wages, and precarious working conditions.
Despite these concerns, both states have shown significant progress in overcoming their adverse working conditions since the end of 2024, as indicated by their improved working poverty indicators for the same period.
Source: Sipse
