Localities () are the basic level of administrative divisions of Mexico that correspond to distinct settlements. In the Mexican administrative hierarchy, localities are under the municipalities and boroughs. As of December 2024, there are in total 296,814 localities under the 2,478 municipalities in Mexico.Catálogo Único de Claves de Áreas Geoestadísticas Estatales, Municipales y Localidades
Administration
The Constitution of Mexico has defined Mexico a federal republic of 32 federative entities (31 states and Mexico City), it also outlines that the federative entities to be divided into municipalities () and boroughs (). The divisions of municipalities and boroughs are regulated solely by constitutions and laws of the respective federative entities.
Among the states, settlement classification schemes vary. Common types of localities include: City () — for more populous places, Town () — for middle populous places, and Village () — for less populous places. Other classifications include ranchería, congregación (población), or ejido.
Mexico City further divides its boroughs into neighborhoods ().
The federal government has established the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (, INEGI) to maintain the statistics and encoding of the administrative divisions across the country. The INEGI uses the term localities () to collectively refer to these types of division. The INEGI's definition of localities is: "All places with one or more dwellings, who may be inhabited or not, and can be classed as urban or rural."
Statistics According to INEGI's data, there are in total 296,814 localities under the 2,478 municipalities in Mexico as of December 2024. Catálogo Único de Claves de Áreas Geoestadísticas Estatales, Municipales y Localidades Federative entityMunicipalitiesand boroughsLocalitiesCodeNameUrbanRuralTotal 11 40 2,962 3,002 7 44 7,703 7,747 5 16 4,148 4,164 13 33 4,981 5,014 38 59 10,308 1,0367 10 21 2,885 2,906 124 206 27,372 27,578 67 89 23,327 23,416 16 33 687 720 39 61 9,961 10,022 46 175 10,947 11,122 85 151 9,195 9,346 84 263 5,028 5,291 125 285 18,911 19,196 125 571 4,584 5,155 113229 10,895 11,124 36 95 1,763 1,858 20 55 4,743 4,798 51 104 10,702 10,806 570 612 12,520 13,132 217 433 7,389 7,822 18 113 2,703 2,816 11 28 4,247 4,275 59 83 8,823 8,906 20 88 8,740 8,828 72 104 16,250 16,354 17 104 2,598 2,702 43 63 13,920 13,983 60 137 1,610 1,747 212 390 26,193 26,583 106 133 9,757 9,890 58 86 6,058 6,144Total 2,478 4,904 291,910 296,814
City
Cities () are usually the most populous localities within the state. Each city elects its own city mayor (). Note that the term city mayor should not be confused with municipal president (), leader of a municipality, the city's upper-level division.
Some larger cities are consolidated with its own municipality and form a single level of governance. Some of these cities are further divided into boroughs () or neighborhoods () in locality level.
See also Administrative divisions of Mexico Settlement classification in Mexico
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