Not long ago, I started looking into how much a Mexican Army general earns, and I was quite surprised. The truth is that military salaries in Mexico are much higher than most people think.

To begin with, a base soldier earns around $18,840 pesos per month, which isn’t bad. But if you advance in the military career, things change quite a bit. A corporal reaches $19,548, sergeants are around $20-21 thousand, and a lieutenant is already at $25,977 pesos per month.

What’s interesting comes when you look at the highest ranks. According to the current pay table, a colonel earns approximately $91 mil pesos per month. But if you really want to see big numbers, look at this: a brigadier general is at $122 mil pesos per month, and a division general reaches $133 mil pesos per month. When you calculate that annually, we’re talking about salaries that exceed by far one million pesos.

In addition to the base salary, military personnel receive fairly generous benefits: a Christmas bonus of 40 days, a vacation premium of 20 days, a technical assignment that adds an additional 40%, a food allowance between $1,515 and $1,640 pesos, and transportation of $985 pesos. In total, benefits can add up to more than 2 thousand additional pesos.

To reach these high ranks, you need to study in the Military Educational System, which offers careers at the Heroico Colegio Militar and specialized schools. It’s not an easy path, but clearly those who make it to general in the Mexican Army end up with a pretty solid compensation package. If someone is considering a military career, these numbers definitely are worth analyzing.