Bacalar

Bacalar is a municipality of Quintana Roo with 41,754 inhabitants according to the 2020 Census. Located at an altitude of 32 meters above sea level. The average years of schooling is 7.9 years.

Demographics of Bacalar

Demographic structure of Bacalar according to the 2020 INEGI Population and Housing Census. The population is composed of 12,546 people under 15 years old (30%), 26,208 people of working age (62.8%) and 2,981 elderly over 65 years old (7.1%).

0-14 years

12,546

30% of the population

15-64 years

26,208

62.8% - Working age

65+ years

2,981

7.1% - Elderly

Dependency Ratio

59.2%

Dependents per 100 working-age people

Age Pyramid of Bacalar

Age Group	Men	Women	Total	% of Total
0-4 years	2,110	2,071	4,181	10%
5-9 years	2,056	2,088	4,144	9.9%
10-14 years	2,133	2,088	4,221	10.1%
15-19 years	1,959	1,953	3,912	9.4%
20-24 years	1,857	1,808	3,665	8.8%
25-29 years	1,617	1,749	3,366	8.1%
30-34 years	1,547	1,543	3,090	7.4%
35-39 years	1,327	1,341	2,668	6.4%
40-44 years	1,193	1,259	2,452	5.9%
45-49 years	1,115	1,107	2,222	5.3%
50-54 years	971	966	1,937	4.6%
55-59 years	825	787	1,612	3.9%
60-64 years	698	586	1,284	3.1%
65-69 years	551	517	1,068	2.6%
70-74 years	419	328	747	1.8%
75-79 years	290	253	543	1.3%
80-84 years	197	121	318	0.8%
85+ years	177	128	305	0.7%

Cultural Diversity and Migration in Bacalar

Population Origin

Born in State

27,459

65.8%

Born in Another State

12,153

29.1%

Lived in Another State in 2015

1,380

Recent migration

Average Live Births

2.6

Per woman (12+ years)

Indigenous Population

Speaks Indigenous Language

8,663

20.7% of the population

Bilingual (Indigenous + Spanish)

8,364

96.5% of indigenous language speakers

Indigenous Monolingual

249

Does not speak Spanish

Indigenous Households

18,066

161.6% of total households

Afro-Mexican Population

Afro-Mexicans

608

1.5% of the population

Men / Women

315 / 293

Afro-Mexicans by sex

Disability

With Disability

2,071

5%

With Limitation

4,095

9.8%

Type of Disability	People
Motor	957
Visual	880
Hearing	544
Speech	461
Mental	431

Education in Bacalar

Literacy and Schooling

In Bacalar, 3,243 people aged 15 and over can read and write (324300%), while 3,316 people have no schooling. The average years of schooling is 7.9 years (7.9 men, 7.9 women).

Education Level	Men	Women	Total	%
No schooling	1,556	1,760	3,316	331600%
Incomplete primary	2,191	1,849	4,040	404000%
Complete primary	1,969	1,904	3,873	387300%
Incomplete secondary	504	410	914	91400%
Complete secondary	4,142	4,268	8,410	841000%
Post-basic education (18+)	3,932	3,738	7,670	767000%

School Non-attendance

Age Group	Not Attending School
3-5 years	1,138
6-11 years	225
12-14 years	232

Educational Facilities

The municipality has 0 educational facilities, of which 185 are public and 4 are private. View complete list of schools.

Education Level	Public	Private	Total
Preescolar	54	1	55
Primaria	59	1	60
Secundaria	46	1	47
Media Superior	21	0	21
Superior	2	1	3

Employment and Social Security in Bacalar

In Bacalar, the Economically Active Population (EAP) is 19,519 people. Of those, 19,446 are employed and 73 are unemployed, representing an unemployment rate of 0.4%.

Total EAP

19,519

H: 12,926 / M: 6,593

Employed Population

19,446

H: 12,877 / M: 6,569

Unemployment Rate

0.4%

73 unemployed people

Economically Inactive

12,147

H: 3,054 / M: 9,093

Health Service Coverage

Institution	Beneficiaries	% of Population
With health coverage (total)	33,383	80%
IMSS	1,968	4.7%
ISSSTE	2,757	6.6%
ISSSTE estatal	80	0.2%
Pemex, Defensa o Marina	96	0.2%
Seguro Popular / INSABI	28,428	68.1%
IMSS Bienestar	65	0.2%
Private insurance	177	0.4%
Other institution	25	0.1%
Without health coverage	8,339	20%

Marital Status and Religion in Bacalar

Marital Status (Population 12+)

Married/Common-law

18,711

1871100%

Single

10,169

1016900%

Separated/Divorced/Widowed

2,849

284900%

Households

Total Households

11,182

3.7 average occupants

Male-headed

8,378

74.9%

Female-headed

2,804

25.1%

Religion

Religion	People	%
Catholic	16,646	39.9%
Protestant / Evangelical Christian	16,195	38.8%
Other religions	76	0.2%
No religion	8,739	20.9%

Housing and Basic Services in Bacalar

Bacalar has 14,266 total dwellings, of which 11,186 are inhabited. The average number of occupants per dwelling is 3.7 people.

Housing Characteristics

Characteristic	Dwellings	%
Non-earthen floor	10,422	94.2%
Earthen floor	707	6.4%
1 bedroom	6,688	60.4%
2+ bedrooms	4,442	40.1%
1 room	2,762	25%
2 rooms	3,780	34.1%
3+ rooms	4,588	41.4%

Basic Services

With Electricity

97.2%

10,757 dwellings

Piped Water

98.8%

10,932 dwellings

With Drainage

93.1%

10,310 dwellings

All Services

90.3%

9,991 dwellings

Service	Dwellings	%
With electricity	10,757	97.2%
Without electricity	373	3.4%
Public water network	10,932	98.8%
Hauled water	9,691	87.6%
Other water source	198	1.8%
With water tank	9,485	85.7%
With cistern	1,025	9.3%
With toilet	10,035	90.7%
With latrine	691	6.2%
With drainage	10,310	93.1%
Without drainage	820	7.4%
With all services	9,991	90.3%
Without water, drainage or electricity	52	0.5%

Goods and Technology in Bacalar

Household equipment in Bacalar according to the 2020 Census. 18.7% of dwellings have internet and 66.6% have a cell phone.

Appliances

Item	Dwellings	%
Refrigerator	7,700	69.6%
Washing machine	7,541	68.1%
Microwave oven	1,627	14.7%

Vehicles

Vehicle	Dwellings	%
Car or truck	3,194	28.9%
Motorcycle	3,627	32.8%
Bicycle	5,375	48.6%

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Technology	Dwellings	%
Television	7,877	71.2%
Radio	4,404	39.8%
Landline phone	969	8.8%
Cell phone	7,374	66.6%
Computer	1,586	14.3%
Internet	2,073	18.7%
Pay TV	5,468	49.4%
Streaming platforms	393	3.6%
Video game console	174	1.6%

Technology Deprivation

No Radio or TV

2,449

22.1%

No Landline or Cell Phone

3,534

31.9%

No Computer or Internet

8,509

76.9%

No ICT at All

1,494

13.5%

Companies and Economy in Bacalar

The main economic sectors of Bacalar are Comercio al por menor with 547 establishments, followed by Otros servicios excepto actividades gubernamentales. View complete business statistics.

Economic Sector	Establishments
Comercio al por menor	547
Otros servicios excepto actividades gubernamentales	188
Industrias manufactureras	40
Actividades legislativas, gubernamentales	33
Servicios educativos	30

Poverty and Social Development in Bacalar

According to CONEVAL indicators for 2015, Bacalar has a poverty rate of 78.2% and extreme poverty of 35.3%.

Poverty

78.2%

23,585 people

Extreme Poverty

35.3%

10,652 people

Vulnerable by Deprivations

12.9%

3,892 people

Vulnerable by Income

2.5%

760 people

Not Poor or Vulnerable

6.4%

1,927 people

Social Deprivations (CONEVAL 2015)

Deprivation	%	People
Educational lag	21.9%	6,618
Lack of access to health services	6.8%	2,051
Lack of access to social security	82%	24,737
Lack of housing quality and spaces	29.5%	8,890
Lack of access to basic housing services	63.2%	19,066
Lack of access to food	36%	10,857
Income below welfare line	80.7%	24,345
Income below minimum welfare line	56.2%	16,950

Poverty Trends

Year	Poverty	Extreme Poverty	Vulnerable Deprivations	Not Poor	Gini
2010	0%	0%	0%	0%	0
2015	78.2%	35.3%	12.9%	6.4%	0

Crime in Bacalar

In the last 12 months, 894 crimes were recorded in Bacalar. View detailed crime statistics.

Period	Total Crimes
2025/12	67
2025/11	63
2025/10	82
2025/09	73
2025/08	74
2025/07	87
2025/06	69
2025/05	92
2025/04	94
2025/03	72
2025/02	59
2025/01	62

Health in Bacalar

Bacalar has 67 health facilities, including 2 hospitals, 65 health centers and 0 clinics. View complete list of health facilities.

Main Localities of Bacalar

Locality	Population	Altitude (m)
Bacalar	12,527	11
Limones	2,739	6
Maya Balam	2,657	28
Los Divorciados	1,249	33
Reforma	1,213	19
Salamanca	1,175	40
Kuchumatán	1,154	22
Manuel Ávila Camacho	1,107	21
San Isidro la Laguna	1,084	21
La Pantera	1,013	24

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