In indigenous rural areas it is increasingly common to find small organizations of youth who seek to support the development of their communities and to preserve or celebrate their culture. Music, as a form of cultural expression and a factor of social cohesion, is frequently taken up by children and youth, along with dance, theater, and sports, such as basketball. In the areas where Mixes, Zapotec, and Triquis indigenous live, young people commonly participate in community political activities (policing, etc.). But there is little in the way of intra- or inter-regional relations.

In rural areas where the mestizo population is more predominant, such as the Coast, the Mixtec region, and the Central Valleys, youth constitute the sector of the population most likely to adventure and emigrate temporarily, or for good, to the large cities or to the United States. These migrations weaken youth groups, as it becomes difficult to secure a permanent core of members. In the largest pueblos the activities of youth groups are similar to those of the cities.

In the urban and semi-urban areas one also finds youth groups with different levels of organization. These organizations arise in the poorest neighborhoods of the cities; in the city of Oaxaca their members are migrants or, more commonly, children of migrants. The projects that group them together are in areas such as formal education, health, environmental education and the use of environmentally sound technologies, microenterprise, and sports.