A general practitioner employed by Mexico's IMSS earns a base salary of $9,751.80 MXN per month (about $600 USD), and a family or non-family physician $12,844.20 MXN (about $750 USD), according to the official base-staff salary schedule in force from October 16, 2025 through October 15, 2026. A medical resident receives between $6,259.16 MXN (~$350 USD) in year one and $7,976.78 MXN (~$450 USD) in year eight, combining salary and stipend. These are tabulated base figures — they exclude benefits, seniority and location supplements — but they are the only public, verifiable and comparable data that exist for the profession. Conversions use 16.90 MXN/USD (September 2026 reference rate).
What does a doctor earn at IMSS by category?
The schedule is signed by the IMSS-SNTSS commission for the 2025-2027 collective bargaining agreement. These are the medical categories and a few reference roles, all at an 8-hour shift:
| Category | Monthly base salary |
|---|---|
| General Practitioner | $9,751.80 MXN (~$600 USD) |
| Family Physician | $12,844.20 MXN (~$750 USD) |
| Non-Family Physician | $12,844.20 MXN (~$750 USD) |
| Dentist (estomatólogo) | $11,924.12 MXN (~$700 USD) |
| General Nurse | $7,381.12 MXN (~$450 USD) |
| Head Nurse | $10,242.12 MXN (~$600 USD) |
The number that frames everything else: Mexico's 2026 general minimum wage was set at $315.04 pesos per day by CONASAMI, equivalent to $9,577.22 MXN (~$550 USD) a month using the standard 30.4-day factor. A general practitioner's tabulated base pay sits 1.8% above that floor. That contrast, not any national average, explains why physician compensation is such a charged topic in Mexico.
What do medical residents earn?
Residency pay combines a salary and a stipend, broken out by year:
| Residency year | Salary | Stipend | Monthly total |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | $2,810.74 MXN | $3,448.42 MXN | $6,259.16 MXN (~$350 USD) |
| R2 | $3,042.46 MXN | $3,713.10 MXN | $6,755.56 MXN (~$400 USD) |
| R4 | $3,197.52 MXN | $3,889.74 MXN | $7,087.26 MXN (~$400 USD) |
| R6 | $3,392.26 MXN | $4,126.60 MXN | $7,518.86 MXN (~$450 USD) |
| R8 | $3,598.82 MXN | $4,377.96 MXN | $7,976.78 MXN (~$450 USD) |
The gap between the first and last residency year is $1,717.62 MXN per month. Eight years of progression move income by 27%, while clinical hours and responsibility grow far faster.
Why base pay is not total compensation
The schedule lists base pay per category. Collective-agreement benefits, seniority, and location or operational-need supplements are built on top of it, vary by facility, and are not published in any single document. Any figure circulating as "what a doctor earns" without specifying base versus total compensation is comparing different things. Outside the public system there is no equivalent published schedule — private practice, private hospitals and pharma do not publish comparable bands, so private-sector averages quoted without a source cannot be verified.
How does it compare with Mexico's professional market?
For scale: the median across Mexico's professional corporate market — technology, finance, sales, operations and HR roles — is $47,500 MXN a month (about $2,800 USD), and the mid-career band sits at $52,500 MXN (~$3,100 USD). A mid-level corporate role pays roughly five times a general practitioner's tabulated base. The full breakdown by city, level and function is in the Mexico salary report and in our salary data hub.
That gap drives a migration already visible in the market: health-trained professionals moving into pharma, medical devices, insurance, digital health and clinical research, where bands look corporate rather than institutional. Related reading: nurse salaries in Mexico and psychologist salaries. Open professional roles are listed on the Talentosy job board, and the macro context on employment and income is published by INEGI in its National Survey of Occupation and Employment.
What determines a doctor's pay in Mexico?
- The institution. IMSS, ISSSTE, state health services and private hospitals use different schedules or schemes and are not directly comparable.
- The contractual category. General, family and non-family physician are separate categories in the same schedule, with a $3,092.40 MXN (~$200 USD) monthly gap between the first and the other two.
- Shift length. The schedule sets pay per shift; a 6.5-hour category pays less than the same category at 8 hours.
- Seniority and collective-agreement benefits, which stack on top of base pay and never appear in the tabulated column.
- Assigned facility. Location and operational-need supplements depend on the unit, not on the individual.
This is why two physicians with the same title and the same years of practice can report very different monthly income without either of them being wrong. When comparing offers between institutions, the only apples-to-apples starting point is the tabulated base for the exact category and shift, with every supplement listed separately underneath. Anything presented as a single "average physician salary" for Mexico is blending public and private, base and total, and full-time and partial shifts into one number that describes nobody.
For candidates weighing a move out of clinical practice, the comparison worth running is not against another hospital but against the corporate band for the function you would step into — regulatory affairs, medical science liaison, clinical operations, health-tech product. Those roles sit inside the professional market medians above, and the gap explains most of the movement we see.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a general practitioner earn at IMSS per month?
$9,751.80 MXN (~$600 USD) in base pay for an 8-hour shift, per the IMSS base-staff salary schedule in force through October 15, 2026. Benefits and supplements are added on top and vary by facility.
Does a family physician earn more than a general practitioner?
Yes. Family and non-family physician categories are both set at $12,844.20 MXN (~$750 USD) a month, 31.7% above the general practitioner rate.
What does a first-year resident earn?
$6,259.16 MXN (~$350 USD) a month: $2,810.74 in salary plus $3,448.42 in stipend. By year eight the total reaches $7,976.78 MXN (~$450 USD).
Does IMSS pay include shifts and benefits?
No. The schedule publishes base pay per category. Collective-agreement benefits, seniority and location or operational supplements are calculated separately and depend on the assigned facility.
