Chiapas
Chiapas is Mexico's second-most peaceful state.
Capital: Tuxtla Gutiérrez · Area: 73,311 km² · Checked 3 Nov 2026
Chiapas at a glance
INEGI publishes IMMEX export-plant counts by state only in its database, not in the monthly bulletin we could read, so no count is shown here rather than an estimate; where Book 6 gives a share, it is in the text below.
This is Chiapas
Chiapas is home to twelve federally recognised Indigenous peoples; in 2010, 1,141,499 people, 27% of the population, spoke an Indigenous language, led by Tzeltal with 461,236 speakers and Tzotzil with 417,462. Before the Spanish arrived, Soconusco was the Aztec Empire's main source of cacao, which served as currency, and it later became the first part of Chiapas to grow coffee. Four dams on the Grijalva River make the state a major source of Mexico's hydroelectric power. Maya artisans produce traditional clothing, textiles and wood items, and the state is known for jade and amber work. The capital moved from San Cristóbal de las Casas to Tuxtla Gutiérrez in 1892, and the 2020 census counted 5,543,828 residents. The Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, created by decree in 1974, has nine campuses. 18
Who it suits
Chapter 20 finds Chiapas suited now only to crop processors, building-material makers and light assemblers willing to be early in a pole near Palenque. 5
Today the deep south suits a narrow set of companies: processors of the region’s own agriculture, coffee, cacao, fruit, poultry and palm oil; makers of building materials for the southern market; and light, labor-intensive assemblers willing to be early, preferably inside a development pole with power and a railway, near the Isthmus or Palenque, where the federal government has committed its money. It doesn’t yet suit a just-in-time supplier, a heavy-power user, or a company that can’t afford a hurricane season.
What to check first
- Ask CFE what load the nearest substation can take and when.
- Price the route to the nearest working port or rail terminal with a quoted rate.
- Read the state’s crime figures by municipality and road, not by state.
- Pull the flood and hurricane record for the parcel.
- Before you buy anything, find out which local authorities and leaders you will deal with in the town, what existing employers pay, and whether a state or federal program will back you if someone objects to your arrival.
Weighing Chiapas for a plant, a warehouse or an office? Work with us.
Industry and plants
Output per hour worked was 92 pesos in the first quarter of 2026 (México ¿cómo vamos?), the lowest of the 32, compared with 222 nationally. 5
Unemployment was 2.2% in the second quarter of 2026 (INEGI), below the national 2.7%, but informality was 76.9%, the third-highest in Mexico. Multidimensional poverty reached 66.0% in 2024 (INEGI), against 29.6 nationally, the highest of any state. Lokus Data’s IMSS processing counted 262,287 formal private jobs in July 2026, up 1.5% in a year. 5
Output by sector, 2024
Share of the state’s output, current prices 16
- 68.6%Services +2.9% real, 2024
- 19.6%Industry: manufacturing, construction, energy, mining +2.5% real, 2024
- 7.0%Agriculture, livestock, fishing +2.4% real, 2024
- 4.8%Taxes on products, net
Among the 32, measure by measure
Each bar is one state, largest on the left, in the colour of its corridor; Chiapas is the bright one with the white edge. 1 2 3 7 6
Beside its neighbours in the Deep South: Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas
Share of Mexico’s output, 2024
Exports, 2025
Formal private jobs, July 2026
Informal work, Q2 2026
Chiapas against Mexico
Coloured: the state. Grey: the whole country.
Safety, taxes and incentives
The May 29, 2026, USA advisory sets Chiapas at Level 3. The Mexico Peace Index 2026 ranks it the second most peaceful, and INEGI counted 2,541 businesses victimized per 10,000 in 2023, compared with 2,722. 5
Payroll tax is 3.0% for 2026 (BHR). IMCO’s 2026 index ranks Chiapas 27th, up 5. 5
Cities, ports, airports, crossings, power and water
Tuxtla Gutiérrez
The capital: 578,830 people (2020) 17
Tapachula
City: 217,550 people (2020) 17
San Cristóbal de las Casas
City: 183,509 people (2020) 17
Ángel Albino Corzo International Airport
International airport (TGZ) · 1,708,535 passengers in 2025 17
Tapachula International Airport
International airport (TAP) · 526,287 passengers in 2025 17
Puerto Chiapas
Commercial seaport 17
Ciudad Hidalgo-Tecún Umán, Guatemala
Border crossing: Ciudad Hidalgo, facing Tecún Umán, Guatemala 17
Tren Maya
Rail line serving the state 17
Interoceanic Corridor (Isthmus of Tehuantepec)
Rail line serving the state 17
Power and water
Chiapas holds much of Mexico’s hydroelectric capacity on the Grijalva, and has alternative supply lines. Eight municipalities were in drought on January 15, 2026. 5
Logistics and crossings
Line FA runs 310.8 kilometers from Coatzacoalcos into Chiapas, with test freight in the first quarter of 2026. 5
Development pole
No pole has been declared in the Diario Oficial; the Isthmus program counts two in Chiapas, and two in Tapachula were announced in September 2025. 5
The recent arrivals
- Book 6 records no dated plant announcement for this state.
The average registered daily wage was 579.57 pesos in July 2026 (Lokus Data), compared with the national average of 673.9 pesos for all IMSS-insured workers. 5
Book 6’s cost model prices only Monterrey, Querétaro and Mérida in full.
Rent per square metre, freight to your customers and the fully loaded cost of your own workforce are figures we prepare for each client, not numbers to publish: work with us.
Sources, each with its date
- INEGI, Encuesta Intercensal 2025 (people in private dwellings; median age from the tabulates), 22 Sep 2026 · link
- INEGI, PIB por Entidad Federativa 2024, current prices; share our arithmetic over the national 33,506,847 million pesos, 5 Dec 2025 · link
- INEGI, Exportaciones Trimestrales por Entidad Federativa, the four quarters of 2025 summed (our arithmetic), preliminary, 31 Mar 2026 · link
- Wikipedia, List of states of Mexico, citing INEGI (continental area, 2016), 22 Oct 2026 · link
- Book 6, Where to Go in Mexico, Part V, with the sources listed there, Nov 2026 · link
- INEGI, ENOE second quarter 2026, bulletin 503/26, as compiled in Book 6, Part V, 25 Aug 2026 · link
- IMSS open data as processed by Lokus Data (private formal jobs and average daily contribution wage; the national wage of 673.9 pesos covers all IMSS-insured workers), as compiled in Book 6, Jul 2026 · link
- Book 6, Where to Go in Mexico, chapter 20, The Deep South: Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas, with the sources listed there, Nov 2026 · link
- INEGI, quarterly state exports, bulletin 609/26, as compiled in Book 6, 30 Sep 2026 · link
- Secretaría de Economía, foreign direct investment by state of destination, as reproduced by the Chamber of Deputies, Gaceta Parlamentaria, 14 Apr 2026 · link
- IMCO, Índice de Competitividad Estatal 2026, 21 Sep 2026 · link
- BHR, bulletin on state payroll-tax rates for 2026, as compiled in Book 6, Jan 2026 · link
- Institute for Economics and Peace, Mexico Peace Index 2026; USA Department of State travel advisory of 29 May 2026, 29 May 2026 · link
- INEGI, ENVE 2024 (businesses victimized in 2023, per 10,000), 10 Dec 2024 · link
- INEGI, ITAEE first quarter 2026 (change on a year), from Book 6, Figure VII.18, Nov 2026 · link
- INEGI, PIB por Entidad Federativa 2024, the state's press release (shares at current prices, growth at constant prices; taxes on products are 100 less the three activities, our arithmetic), 5 Dec 2025 · link
- Wikipedia, the city, airport, port and crossing pages (EN and ES), read 3 November 2026, 3 Nov 2026 · link
- Wikipedia and the pages listed: Chiapas (en); Chiapas (es); Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (es), 3 Nov 2026 · link
Pictures
- Canyon sumidero entrada: Jan Harenburg, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Montaje de San Cristóbal de Las Casas: self., CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons