New Mexico 38th in Rich States, Poor States

The annual Rich States, Poor States report analyzes all 50 states based on dozens of economic data points. It is arguably the most thorough analysis and ranking of both past data and future economic prospects for all 50 states. Check out the report here and New Mexico’s data here. It is no surprise that New Mexico badly lags each of its neighbors in the report. Sadly, New Mexico’s economic outlook remains mired at 38th despite the ongoing oil and gas boom. Here are the ranks for outlook among the states neighboring New Mexico:

Utah: 1
Arizona: 3
Colorado: 17
Texas: 6
Oklahoma: 9
New Mexico: 38

There is a lot of data in the report, but the following chart shows what went in to compiling New Mexico’s current economic outlook.

The following compares New Mexico’s economic performance with neighboring Arizona. Not surprisingly Arizona outperformed New Mexico on 17 of the 19 metrics studied.