NM economy continues to fall behind neighbors

In any given year or other abbreviated time period it may seem that New Mexico is more or less keeping up with its neighbors. In reality, it is being left behind and it isn’t really close. I found an interesting website: CountryEconomy.com which can be used to put together some of these charts.

RGF complained after the session that once again the Legislature did not enact needed policy reforms that would boost New Mexico’s economy despite having a massive surplus.

For starters, the first two charts are New Mexico vs. Texas. The first chart is total GDP. While Texas has ALWAYS had a bigger economy than New Mexico, the Texas economy has grown far more quickly than New Mexico’s. Back in 1963 (the first year included) Texas’ economy was 9.6 times New Mexico’s. By 2022 the Texas economy was 19 times the size of New Mexico’s.

On a per-person basis New Mexico the gap between Texas and New Mexico used to be quite small, but in 2022 the gap is now nearly 35%.

Colorado is in many ways more similar to New Mexico in relative population size and geography, but back in 1963 Colorado’s GDP was about 2 times as big as New Mexico’s. Today it is 4 times as big.

On a per-person basis Colorado, which as recently as the early 1980s had per capita incomes similar to those in New Mexico now has incomes that are 42 percent greater than in New Mexico.

The site is full of useful information. What other states should we compare with New Mexico and why?