Unfortunately, as is so often the case with things New Mexico scores “highly” in, second place is not a good thing. Check out page 3 of this document (the rest of it is interesting as well) which ranks the states based on government workers per 1,000 private workers. We are the highest in the nation aside from Wyoming.
We have previously reported on New Mexico’s high rate of government employment. The AFSCME union has also “taken us to task” for allegedly misrepresenting the data. But, the fact remains that New Mexico has an outsized government work force relative to neighboring and not altogether dis-similar states like Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Facts are facts.
26.7% are employed in state and local government in NM according to page 3.
NM also has approximately 31,751 (59249 – 27498) federal employees http://www.eyeonwashington.com/few_map_2010/htm/New_Mexico.html
I suspect that the combined federal, state and local total is at least 30%.