How many pharmacies are there in Mexico by city?

According to INEGI's DENUE (May 2026 cut): Mexico City has 12,676 pharmacies, the Guadalajara metropolitan area 5,156 and Monterrey's 2,959. Measured as density — pharmacies per 100 commercial establishments — Mexico City has 2.74, Guadalajara 2.28 and Monterrey 1.70. That is, the capital has 1.6 times more pharmacies per business than Monterrey.

Why does Monterrey have fewer pharmacies than Mexico City?

Two explanations coexist. First, composition: Monterrey's commercial fabric has more industry, wholesale and business services, which enlarges the denominator without adding retail points. Second, format: in Monterrey the large chain pharmacy with parking dominates, serving more people from fewer points, while in Mexico City the neighborhood pharmacy weighs more and needs to be around the corner. The distance data confirms it: the median Monterrey pharmacy has its nearest competitor 72 meters away, versus 46 in Mexico City.

Where in Mexico is it worth opening a pharmacy?

It depends on the format. For a neighborhood pharmacy, the real gaps are in Mexico City: 23 commercial cells of 250 meters with 150+ businesses and no pharmacy, the largest with 1,181 establishments in Venustiano Carranza. Guadalajara has 9 gaps, almost all in the central municipality. Monterrey has only 1 in its whole metropolitan area, which indicates a market already covered for that format — there the opportunity, if any, is large-format, not coverage.

Does the richest area of a city have more pharmacies?

There is no rule, and that is the finding. In Mexico City the opposite of intuition happens: Miguel Hidalgo, among the highest-income boroughs, has the lowest density (1.90 pharmacies per 100 businesses) while Tláhuac, on the periphery, has the highest (3.27). But in Monterrey the pattern inverts: San Pedro Garza García, the highest-income municipality in the country, has the highest density of its metro area (2.01). Practical conclusion: area income does not predict a trade's density; each city has to be measured.

BlackPrint · Guides · The market

Pharmacies in Mexico: the three big cities, compared

We counted the pharmacies of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey with the same criterion and the same method. The capital has 1.6 times the pharmacy density of Monterrey — but the explanation is not that Monterrey lacks them. And along the way a myth falls: that the richest area always has the most retail.

Updated September 4, 2026 · BlackPrint Team

1.6×more pharmacies per business in Mexico City than in Monterrey

The essentials, in 20 seconds

Mexico City 12,676 pharmacies (2.74 per 100 businesses) · Guadalajara 5,156 (2.28) · Monterrey 2,959 (1.70)
The gap is not scarcity: it is commercial composition and dominant format — distance between pharmacies confirms it (46 m in Mexico City, 72 in Monterrey)
The myth that falls: Miguel Hidalgo is the worst served in its city and San Pedro Garza García the best in its own. Two wealthy areas, opposite results

01 · The comparison SOURCE: DENUE · INEGI · MAY 2026

Same pharmacy chain, three different markets.

We counted the pharmacies of the country's three largest metro areas with the same criterion: SCIAN codes 4641, with and without convenience store.

1.6×more pharmacy density in Mexico City than in Monterrey

The three cities, same yardstick

Metro area	Pharmacies	Establishments	Per 100
Mexico City	12,676	462,732	2.74
Guadalajara	5,156	225,685	2.28
Monterrey	2,959	173,831	1.70

▲ READINGThe gap is large: per 100 businesses, the capital has 2.74 pharmacies and Monterrey 1.70. Before reading it as "Monterrey lacks pharmacies", you have to understand what moves that number — and it is not only supply.

02 · Why the gap TWO EXPLANATIONS

Composition and format, not scarcity.

A lower density does not mean an underserved market. These are the two forces behind the difference, and both point the same way.

72 mseparate the median Monterrey pharmacy from its competitor · 46 m in Mexico City

What really moves the number

Force	What it does	The evidence
Commercial composition	Monterrey has more industry, wholesale and business services: the denominator grows without adding retail points	Density is measured against ALL establishments, not only street retail
Dominant format	Large chain pharmacy with parking versus walk-in neighborhood pharmacy	Distance between pharmacies: 72 m in Monterrey, 58 in Guadalajara, 46 in Mexico City

▲ READINGThe distance data breaks the tie. In Mexico City pharmacies pile up — 35.8% operate less than 25 meters from another — because the neighborhood format competes for the corner. In Monterrey they are further apart, exactly what a market of large points with wide catchments looks like. It is not that pharmacies are missing: it is another business model.

03 · The income myth FALLS WITH DATA

The richest area is not always the best served. Nor the worst.

It is the most common belief when choosing an area: "where there is more money there is more retail". Measured across the three cities, it does not hold.

1.90 vs 2.01Miguel Hidalgo and San Pedro: two wealthy areas, opposite results

Each city's highest-income areas

High-income area	City	Density	Its rank in the city
Miguel Hidalgo	Mexico City	1.90	The lowest of the 16 boroughs
Benito Juárez	Mexico City	2.45	Below the capital's average
San Pedro Garza García	Monterrey	2.01	The highest of its metro area
Zapopan	Guadalajara	2.35	Second place, near the center

▲ READINGTwo high-income areas, opposite results: Miguel Hidalgo is the worst served in its city and San Pedro the best in its own. If income predicted density, this could not happen. What does predict it is urban format: San Pedro is a municipality of commercial streets and neighborhood life; Miguel Hidalgo has Polanco, Reforma and corporate towers, where the pharmacy lives inside malls and buildings, not on the sidewalk. The lesson for anyone choosing an area: do not buy the income average, measure the trade.

04 · Where it is missing 250 M GRID

23 gaps in Mexico City, 9 in Guadalajara, 1 in Monterrey.

Cells of 250 meters with 150 or more establishments and no pharmacy. Same method in the three cities.

1gap in the whole Monterrey metro area

Where the largest gaps are

City	Gaps	The largest	Businesses
Mexico City	23	Venustiano Carranza	1,181
Guadalajara	9	Guadalajara (municipality)	383
Monterrey	1	San Nicolás de los Garza	204

▲ READINGThat Monterrey has a single gap in its whole metro area says more than its low density: for the neighborhood format, that market is already covered. The opportunity there, if any, is large-format or service, not placing a pharmacy where there is none. Mexico City, with 23 gaps and one of 1,181 businesses, still has coverage missing. The borough-by-borough detail is in the Mexico City pharmacies guide (Spanish).

What this analysis cannot tell you

Everything comes from INEGI's DENUE, May 2026 cut — the country's best public database, and a semiannual snapshot. A gap may have been filled since, and a closed pharmacy may still count. Nor does it say whether those pharmacies do well: the census says they exist, not how much they sell. For that you need measured flow.

Sobre tu territorio

Este análisis es del municipio. El tuyo es de tu esquina.

Si tienes una decisión enfrente —dónde abrir, a quién rentarle, contra cuánta competencia llegas— la medimos con los datos de tu zona exacta, no con promedios municipales.

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