The main objective of this work is to characterize the economy of families residing in Aymara communities in the rural areas of northern Chile. Material collected in various research projects since 1987 to date was analyzed. We argue that the current that the current economic reality of the aforementioned communities can no longer be understood exclusively from their traditional agricultural production systems and that the income of the family groups depends almost equally on other types of activities and social benefits; in other words, it depends on the diversification of its economy, taking advantage of opportunities that are found even outside the historical space of its communities.