How much does it cost for a gardener in Yucatan: Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Merida, etc?
John Venator - Casa de los Venados
The legal minimum wage here in the Yucatan is about 70 Mexican pesos (US $4.38) a day. When you figure it is almost 16 pesos to the dollar now, it is almost embarrassingly low. I pay my gardener, who is a part time gardener, 100 pesos ($6.25) a day. He comes three times a week and works half a day. All my other employees are full time. I have seven full time employees and a part time gardener. I pay my seven full time employees and they are all totally...
The legal minimum wage here in the Yucatan is about 70 Mexican pesos (US $4.38) a day. When you figure it is almost 16 pesos to the dollar now, it is almost embarrassingly low. I pay my gardener, who is a part time gardener, 100 pesos ($6.25) a day. He comes three times a week and works half a day. All my other employees are full time. I have seven full time employees and a part time gardener. I pay my seven full time employees and they are all totally legal. Some expats pay cash and they are not legal. Mine are all fully legal. I pay the social security, I pay the Christmas bonuses, etc. I pay them roughly 200 pesos ($12.50) a day plus the social security that I pay for them as well.
(Potted plants in John Venator's center patio, Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted September 14, 2015
Jason Waller - Playa del Carmen Real Estate
We have a gardener that comes once a month here in Playa del Carmen, in Yucatan. My neighbor has a gardener that comes twice a month. To come and spend about 3 hours in our yard costs about US $10 to $15. The cost should be about the same everywhere in Yucatan. Cancun typically is a little more expensive than Playa Del Carmen because it is a big tourist area.
(Home in Quintana Roo, Yucantan, Mexico, pictured.)
We have a gardener that comes once a month here in Playa del Carmen, in Yucatan. My neighbor has a gardener that comes twice a month. To come and spend about 3 hours in our yard costs about US $10 to $15. The cost should be about the same everywhere in Yucatan. Cancun typically is a little more expensive than Playa Del Carmen because it is a big tourist area.
(Home in Quintana Roo, Yucantan, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted November 8, 2015
Doug Willey - Doug Willey, Independent Real Estate Consultant
On the average, the cost for a gardener in the Yucatan would be 200 to 300 pesos (about $12 to $18) for a full day. In the beach areas of the state of Yucatan, around the city of Merida, you would pay at the lower end of the scale. In the more touristy or more expat areas in the state of Quintana Roo (also in the Yucatan Peninsula, and which contains Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and the area generally known as “Riviera Maya”), you would pay towards...On the average, the cost for a gardener in the Yucatan would be 200 to 300 pesos (about $12 to $18) for a full day. In the beach areas of the state of Yucatan, around the city of Merida, you would pay at the lower end of the scale. In the more touristy or more expat areas in the state of Quintana Roo (also in the Yucatan Peninsula, and which contains Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and the area generally known as “Riviera Maya”), you would pay towards the top end of the scale. In either event, the gardeners would get to your house at 8 in the morning and work to between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. Some of them have their own tools and some don’t, and would expect you to have rakes and hoes, and other tools. Then there are guys who have everything, including weed whackers and the long saw with extended handles that can trim the trees higher up.
(Back yard of home in Merida, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted December 11, 2015
Gustavo Cisneros - Petén
The cost to get a gardener in the Yucatan ranges from 500 to 600 pesos or US $30 to $35 for coming twice a month. The cost would also depend on the size of your garden. Most gardeners have a team that does other jobs in the area. For example, the garden in my home is not that big, but it takes them 2 to 3 hours and they charge me around $35.
(The garden and beach at Peten Residences, Sisal, Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)
The cost to get a gardener in the Yucatan ranges from 500 to 600 pesos or US $30 to $35 for coming twice a month. The cost would also depend on the size of your garden. Most gardeners have a team that does other jobs in the area. For example, the garden in my home is not that big, but it takes them 2 to 3 hours and they charge me around $35.
(The garden and beach at Peten Residences, Sisal, Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted February 16, 2016
Thomas Lloyd - Top Mexico Real Estate
What you would pay for a gardener in the Yucatan Peninsula would depend on several things, including where in the Yucatan you were located. If you were here where I live in the Mexican Caribbean on the Riviera Maya (Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Tulum, etc.) and have a gardener come in and take care of your yard once a week, it would run you about 200 to 400 pesos (US $11 to $22). If you go to the Gulf Coast or the Gulf of Mexico – the beaches around Merida, including Progreso and...What you would pay for a gardener in the Yucatan Peninsula would depend on several things, including where in the Yucatan you were located. If you were here where I live in the Mexican Caribbean on the Riviera Maya (Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Tulum, etc.) and have a gardener come in and take care of your yard once a week, it would run you about 200 to 400 pesos (US $11 to $22). If you go to the Gulf Coast or the Gulf of Mexico – the beaches around Merida, including Progreso and the nearby beach towns, the cost for a gardener would be about 25% less.For example, right now I have a maid who we pay 600 pesos (around $35) a week. She comes early in the morning to help my wife with my two kids to get the kids ready for school. She comes in at 6 AM, gets the kids ready, and does the housework until about 3 PM, Monday through Saturday.
(Colonial courtyard in Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted February 28, 2016
Iona Chamberlin - Hacienda San Pedro Nohpat
A gardener in Yucatan who works for 8 hours a day would charge 200 pesos (US $9.50) a day. You can hire a full time gardener in Yucatan who will work for 48 hours a week (6 days) for 1,000 pesos ($50) a week. If you hire a full time staff in Mexico, you have to put them on some Seguro, which is the social system in Mexico that gives the workers a pension and medical insurance. The cost of Seguro for the employer is about 1,100 pesos ($52) a month per...
A gardener in Yucatan who works for 8 hours a day would charge 200 pesos (US $9.50) a day. You can hire a full time gardener in Yucatan who will work for 48 hours a week (6 days) for 1,000 pesos ($50) a week. If you hire a full time staff in Mexico, you have to put them on some Seguro, which is the social system in Mexico that gives the workers a pension and medical insurance. The cost of Seguro for the employer is about 1,100 pesos ($52) a month per employee, and you also have to have a tax number or an RFC number to sign up for Seguro.
Seguro is a form of the Seguro Popular system. Seguro is like what we have in Canada with Canada’s pension plan). Seguro is a benefit system that provides security for workers, but if you just need somebody to show up once a week, you can just hire somebody local for 200 pesos ($9.50) a day.
The rules in Mexico are universal. Everybody is entitled, like in Canada, to have a social benefit program, and most people try to not pay into it, but the consequences of that can cost you $500 - $1,000. If you have any employee, you’re required to put them in that system. Most people don’t, if their employees are hired only once a week. Many people try and avoid that system because they don’t want to pay the cost of the security for having the employee.
If someone gets caught not paying for Seguro, the workers can ask for back compensation, holiday pay, Christmas bonuses, and vacation days. There’s a system in place for employers that don’t pay benefits for their employees.
(Iona Chamberlain working in her hacienda garden, outside of Merida, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted January 13, 2017