I just reviewed the 2026 salary table, and honestly, I was surprised at how much someone in the Mexican Army earns. It’s not what most people think. A basic enlisted soldier earns 18,840 pesos per month, but if you get promoted to cabo or sergeant, you’re already in the 19-21 thousand range. What’s interesting is that there are positions where they exceed a million annually.

To reach those high-ranking positions, you need to study in the Military Education System, whether at the Colegio Militar or in specialized schools for medicine, engineering, or aviation. Then comes promotion through the ranks. A Colonel earns around 91,000 pesos per month, but the generals are already at much higher figures.

Division generals are at 133,000 pesos per month, which effectively exceeds a million per year. A Lieutenant Colonel is around 62,000, and a Major is 49,000. So, how much a soldier earns depends quite a bit on where you are on the pay scale.

In addition to salary, there are benefits that aren’t small: a 40-day Christmas bonus, a 20-day vacation premium, a food allowance of 1,500-1,600 pesos, transportation of almost 1,000 pesos, and a technical allowance that adds an extra 40%. Additional compensations of 2,000 pesos are also included in the package.

If you’re interested in knowing how much someone in the Mexican Army earns in detail, basically from Colonel upward is where you see numbers that break the million mark every year. But even in intermediate ranks, a lieutenant or captain earns quite well compared with other jobs in Mexico.