San Miguel de Allende - Demographics

Demographics

Despite being less than ten percent of the total municipal population, foreign residents have considerable cultural and economic impact. Most foreign residents are retirees from the United States and Canada attracted here by the mild climate, cultural opportunities and low crime. It is only a ten-hour drive to the U.S. border. Many of the home buyers are from this segment of the population as well. So many Americans are here that there is a joke that the area is becoming less Mexican and more Disneyland . Estimates of foreign residents range from 8,000 to 12,000 with about 7,000 of these from the United States alone. This makes San Miguel one of the largest American communities in Mexico, large enough to warrant its own U.S. consulate to provide services such as notary and passport. The large foreign presence has established a number of institutions here. The most noted one is the Biblioteca Publica, which has the second largest English language book collection in Mexico, located in the former convent of Santa Ana. It acts as the community center for foreigners. There is also a chapter of the Lion's Club (est. 1987). A post of The American Legion and The Veterans of Foreign Wars is located there, and Mexico's only Audubon Society chapter.

While the town and municipality have grown since the coming of foreigners in the 1940s, the highest rates of growth occurred between 1980 and 2000, rising from 77,624 to 110,692, or about 43%. However, since that time growth has slowed and as of the 2005 census, the population stood at 139,297. Most of the drop has been due to the fall in birthrates. However, the overall population of the municipality is young: about 40% is under the age of 15, with those between 15 and 64 making up about 54% of the population. The majority of the municipality lives in the town of San Miguel proper, which has a population of 59,691. The next three largest towns are under 3,000 people: Los Rodriguez (2,768,) Colonia San Luis Rey (1,850) and Corral de Piedras de Arriba (1,701). Most of the municipality's population is located in rural areas in communities that do not exceed 2,500 people. About 46% is considered to live in an urban environment in the city of San Miguel.

Outside of the main town and in these smaller communities are the municipality's indigenous groups, mostly Otomi and Nahuas. The Otomi are the largest group, accounting for just under 38% of the municipal population. The Nahuas follow at about 20%. Other groups include the Mazahua, Huasteca and P'urhépecha. However, according to the 2005 Census, only 355 people speak an indigenous language.

Ninety six percent of the population professes the Catholic faith, with the rest divided among Protestant and Evangelical groups. The municipality is home to two institutions of higher education, Instituto Tecnologico SSC a campus of the Universidad de León which offers four, and Universidad Tecnologica de San Miguel de Allende. The city also has bilingual schools with accordance to the American educational system. As of 2000, 17.5% of the population is considered to be illiterate, compared to 12.1% for the rest of the state.