Average software dev salaries in major Mexican metros are around 30,000 to 45,000 MXN per month. So around $2,000 USD a month.

Which is a lot, at least in terms or how much you can buy. Mexico is really cheap, compared to USA.

The thing with purchasing power is that it doesn't apply to everything. In particular foreign goods.

So while low cost of living countries offset their low wages with cheaper housing, food and local services, imported stuff still costs the same and is relatively expensive as a result. Basically in those countries it really sucks to buy a computer, camera, even cars.

I spent two weeks in Juarez a few years ago for my wife's visa stuff. The hotel was pretty cheap, the food was pretty cheap (and delicious!), but I was surprised to see that an Xbox was actually more expensive than it was in NYC.

It makes enough sense, Microsoft isn't a charity, they're selling the console at a fairly competitive price already in the US, it's not going going to magically get cheaper just because it crossed a border, but it was still surprising to see that.

Microsoft also knows that if they sell xbox's for less overseas people will start buying those cheap ones and importing them to the US for resale.

That makes sense, and not really theoretical; it's pretty easy to buy Blu-rays and DVDs from foreign markets, and they're often considerably cheaper than their American versions.

They of course are region encoded, but I suspect nearly anyone who frequents Hacker News knows how to get around that.

It is a hit on your retirement savings if you intend to return to a more expensive country.

The only thing that makes it "a lot" is how pathetic the wages are in Mexico compared to it. But you aren't living large in Guadalajara on $20k/year.

Only some things are particularly cheap in Mexico like labor and anything where labor is the main input, like services.

And some things that you'd think would be in reach of a Mexican software developer, like sending your kids to a decent private school, are not.