What Care at Home Could Cost, and What the Same Care Costs in a United States Facility
Marvin had a friend who winters in Mexico City, and he wondered what the same help would cost at home there.
Picture a couple named Marvin, 72, and Ada, 70. A care home near them in Ohio had quoted a monthly price for Ada's sister. Marvin had a friend who winters in Mexico City, and he wondered what the same help would cost at home there.
"Lower wages," Ada said. "Is that all it is?"
"I would like to see the numbers first," Marvin said. "Then I will know what I think."
They wrote the numbers down. Every peso figure below is converted at 17.96 pesos to the US dollar, the mid-market rate on Xe for 6 October 2026.
The Mexican figures are quotes from agencies and price pages, plus what my own family paid. They are not statistics. The United States figures for care homes and caregivers are medians from the CareScout 2025 survey. The line for 24 hours at US$35 is our own arithmetic on that survey's hourly median.
| Where | What | Pesos a month | About US$ a month | Kind of figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | Round-the-clock team, three caregivers on 12-hour shifts (2,000 pesos x 2 shifts x 30 days) | 120,000 | 6,700 | My family's price, agency style |
| Mexico | One live-in worker, employer's total cost | 18,000 to 32,000 | 1,000 to 1,780 | Price page, May 2026 |
| Mexico | Housekeeper, per hour | About 125 | About 7 | My family's figure |
| Mexico | Doctor who comes to the house, Mexico City, per visit | 1,200 to 1,800 | 67 to 100 | Platform prices, May 2026 |
| United States | Non-medical caregiver, 24 hours x 30 days at US$35 | 25,200 | Median hourly rate, our arithmetic | |
| United States | Assisted living | 6,200 | Median | |
| United States | Nursing home, private room, US$355 a day | About 10,800 | Median |
Two things stand out. The Mexico team costs about a quarter of the same hours in the United States. And the one live-in worker costs far less again, but it is a different service. One person also sleeps, and a law firm summary of Mexican labor rules reports that a live-in worker has at least nine consecutive hours of night rest. A team of three is how my family had someone awake every hour.
I paid about 1,000 pesos for a doctor to come to the house, a little under the platform range. Prices differ by city, so a family might ask three agencies for written quotes.
You could…
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Ask two or three agencies for the price of a 12-hour shift and of a live-in worker, in writing.
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Ask the care home near you for a list of what its monthly price covers and what costs extra.
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Add your own local figures to the table and see which line is closest to your situation.
What has a written quote looked like where you live? Share it here. Someone reading may be comparing the same two columns.
Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Sources: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 (released March 2026); Xe currency tables, 6 October 2026; cuantomecuesta.com Mexico price pages (May 2026); IDC Online summary of Mexican domestic work rules (February 2025). Our own prices are what we paid.
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