Data Analysis · Los Cabos 2026

Tourist vs Tenant: The Infrastructure Divide

Same municipality. Different worlds. Census data across 180 colonias reveals exactly how much infrastructure quality Los Cabos residents trade for proximity to the tourist corridor — and which neighborhoods deliver real value per peso.

180
Colonias mapped
13K
Census blocks
6
Infrastructure variables
525+
Active listings
Show layer:
Overlay:
Liveability score: Very low (0–20) Low (20–35) Moderate (35–50) Good (50–70) Excellent (70+) Hover for details · click to explore
What we measured

Defining Liveability

Liveability score (0–100) is derived from six variables measured by INEGI field surveyors in the 2020 national census. It measures the physical conditions of daily life — not prestige, not views, not proximity to resorts.

The six components of the liveability score

🚶
Sidewalk coverage
Share of block faces with continuous sidewalk — can you walk safely?
💡
Street lighting
Public lighting on block faces — is it safe at night?
🛣
Road surface
Paved vs unpaved — does your car survive the commute?
🏛
Curbs
Drainage and pedestrian separation from traffic
💧
Municipal water
% homes with piped municipal supply — not cisterns or trucks
📶
Internet access
% homes with broadband — proxy for infrastructure investment
Key findings

What the Data Shows

The tourist corridor paradox

The Corredor Turístico has an average 2BR rent of $24,625 MXN/mo but a liveability score of just 22/100. Nearby El Tezal (liveability 26, rent $23,500) offers comparable rents for similar infrastructure — without the tourist premium label.

Zone 5 delivers the best infrastructure per peso

El Tezal, Altamira Plus, and La Cima cluster together with liveability scores of 26–78 and 2BR rents of $14,000–$24,000 MXN. This is where the gap between infrastructure quality and price is most favorable to renters.

Centro is the most expensive per sq metre

Centro has 50 active listings with avg 2BR at $30,191 MXN/mo — the highest in the dataset. Liveability score of 19/100. Renters are paying a location premium, not an infrastructure premium.

Ampliación Mariano Matamoros — the volume market

40 listings, 2BR avg $18,563 MXN/mo. This is where most renters actually live. Liveability is moderate but the rent/infrastructure ratio is far more honest than the tourist corridor.

The Data

Neighborhood Rankings

Avg 2BR Rent by Neighborhood
MXN/month · outlier-filtered (listings $3K–$300K) · min 2 listings
Liveability Score — Top & Bottom 10
0–100 index from census block infrastructure data
Rent vs Liveability — Every Colonia with Sufficient Data
Upper-left = tourist premium (high rent, low infrastructure) · Lower-right = value plays (good infrastructure, moderate rent) · Circle size = number of active listings
The Value Metric

Rent Per Liveability Point

Monthly rent ÷ liveability score. A neighborhood charging $30,000 MXN/mo at a score of 20 costs $1,500 per liveability point. One charging $18,000 at 40 costs $450/point. This is the single most honest measure of value in Los Cabos rentals.

Neighborhood2BR Rent (MXN)LiveabilityMXN/PointListingsSignal

Every listing shows this data before you contact anyone

Liveability score, water access, nearest grocery and hospital — all visible on the listing card, no agent required.

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Water Access · Los Cabos 2026

The Water Map: Who Has It and Who Doesn't

Municipal water connection and water access are not the same thing. In Los Cabos, 8 colonias have more than half their homes relying on cisterns, tinacos, or delivery trucks. This cost is almost never disclosed in rental listings.

8
Colonias >50% non-municipal
78%
Paraiso — worst case
15–25%
Estimated rent impact of water upgrade
The Numbers

Non-Municipal Water by Colonia

"Non-municipal" means relying on cisterns, rooftop tinacos, or paid truck delivery. During peak summer demand — when every household is running AC and consumption spikes — delivery truck wait times increase and prices go up.

% Homes Without Municipal Water Connection — Worst Colonias
From 2020 census · pct_non_muni metric · colonias with data from 174 surveyed
Water Access vs Liveability Score
No correlation — water reliability is independent of other infra quality
Real Cost of Non-Municipal Water
Estimated monthly cost in addition to rent · 2-person household
Investment Intelligence · Los Cabos 2026

The Los Cabos Investment Map: Infrastructure Gaps as Alpha

Infrastructure score predicts rental yield better than square footage. Here is where the tourist corridor has fully extracted the premium — and where it hasn't yet. Real data, real colonias, no agent spin.

Cumbre
Worst value: $1,500 MXN/point
Altamira+
Best: $28 MXN/point · zone 5
No DB
Mexico has no rental market index
The opportunity

Where the Gap Lives

The rent-per-liveability-point ratio measures how much of the neighborhood's development premium has already been priced into rents. High ratio = already extracted. Low ratio = gap play.

Rent Per Liveability Point — Ranked
MXN per month ÷ liveability score · lower = better value for tenants · real 2BR data, outlier-filtered
Market context

Why There's No Zillow for Mexico

Mexico has no equivalent of Zillow Research or Redfin Data Center. The closest things that exist:

SHF (Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal)

Quarterly home purchase price index by municipality, back to 2008. Not rentals. Tracks resale prices, not lease market. Published 90 days after the quarter ends.

INEGI Housing Survey (ENVI)

Comprehensive housing data every 5–8 years. Excellent for structural analysis but too infrequent for market timing. Last published: 2020.

Inmuebles24 / Vivanuncios

Both portals have internal market dashboards but don't publish granular data. They are the data moat — not a public resource.

This platform

525+ active listings with real-time price, neighborhood, and infrastructure data. The closest thing to a ground-truth rental index for Los Cabos that currently exists — and we're publishing it.