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The four questions · 2 of 4

What does industrial space rent for in Mexico?

In the main manufacturing markets, Class A industrial space was asked at about USD 5.50 to 8.60 per square meter a month in the first quarter of 2026, with vacancy from under 4% in Guanajuato to above 10% in Tijuana.

The short answer

Most foreign plants rent rather than buy, inside an industrial park. Rent is quoted in USD per square meter per month, usually triple net: the tenant also pays property tax, insurance and the park's maintenance. A buyer used to the USA should convert before comparing: USD 7.21 per square meter a month is about USD 0.67 per square foot a month, or USD 8.04 per square foot a year.

Class A asking rent, first quarter of 2026

USD per square meter per month; after the dot, the share of space vacant

Class A asking rent, first quarter of 2026Tijuana8.62 · 10.7%Monterrey7.21 · 7.9%Ciudad Juárez7.10 · 9.9%Querétaro6.06 · 6.6%San Luis Potosí5.52 · 5.0%Guanajuato5.52 · 3.9%
Source: Datoz (Q1 2026), via American Industries Group, 24 Jul 2026

The figures above are Class A asking rents from Datoz for the first quarter of 2026, as American Industries Group published them (24 Jul 2026). Brokers measure differently, so a second reading helps. For Monterrey, the largest market, CBRE put the weighted average asking rent at about USD 7.00 per square meter a month in the same quarter, with vacancy at 6.9% and 212,000 m² taken up net (Mexico Industry, 5 May 2026). Mexico City's metropolitan area asked between USD 7.50 and 13.50 at the close of 2025 (CBRE, via ProMéxico Industry, 14 Jan 2026).

What moves the number

Vacancy. Where little space is empty, landlords set the terms. Datoz put Class A vacancy at 3.9% in Guanajuato, 1.1% in Aguascalientes and 1.9% in Saltillo in the first quarter of 2026 (American Industries Group, 29 Jun 2026). In the tightest corridors, build-to-suit and pre-leasing have become the usual way into specialized space.

Time. PGIM Real Estate forecasts national industrial rent growth near 7% a year through 2028, and about 6.3% a year in the Bajío over five years (same article). Underwrite a five- to seven-year lease with annual increases; rents on renewal tend to run ahead of the bumps written into the contract.

What comes with the building. Power and water decide whether a building can be used at all. Nuevo León, whose capital Monterrey is the deepest market, has faced water shortages caused by droughts alongside its nearshoring boom (Wikipedia, Nuevo León). The page on time to production covers the power connection.

Rent in the whole cost. Per unit made, rent is usually a smaller line than labor. The page on what a factory costs puts it beside the rest.

Where the book goes deeper

Cover of Where to Go in Mexico, Book 6 of The Economics of Mexico, by J Rutan Flores
The Economics of Mexico

Where to Go in Mexico

Chapter 8: Buildings and Land
Chapter 12: The Landed Cost and Time to Production, State by State

Chapter 8 reads Mexico's industrial markets one by one: how much space each has, how much is empty, how fast it's taken and what it rents for, with every figure dated. Chapter 12 turns rent, labor and power into a cost per unit and a start date for each candidate place.

See the book

Your own numbers

These are market figures, and some are an operator's own estimates. What your plant will cost, and when it can ship, depends on your product, your route and your place.

Every engagement starts in writing. Write to info@rutanamex.com; we sign an NDA before you share anything, and we do not charge to look at your paperwork. The fee for the work is quoted in writing before it begins.

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Sources

Every source was read on 11 Nov 2026. A figure is as of the date its source gives.