Sonora: population, economy, jobs and household income

Sonora is a state of Mexico, number 18 of 32 by population. CONAPO, the National Population Council, projects the population of Sonora at 3,168,624 in mid-2026, 2.4% of Mexico's 134,407,258 and 15th smallest of 32 federal entities. That is up 0.89% on the mid-2025 figure of 3,140,762 (15th fastest growth of 32; Mexico up 0.78%).

In depth

• Economy, jobs and prices in Sonora: The gross domestic product of Sonora was 1.11 trillion pesos in 2024 at current prices, according to INEGI, 3.3% of Mexico's 33.58 trillion pesos and 11th largest of 32 federal entities. In current pesos it was up 3.6% on 2023.
• Health in Sonora: 24.1% of the people of Sonora lacked access to health services in 2024, about 737,647 people (8th lowest of 32; Mexico 34.2%). The share was 12.6% in 2018 and 24.4% in 2022.
• Education in Sonora: People aged 15 and over in Sonora had completed 10.93 years of schooling on average in October 2025 (4th highest of 32; Mexico 10.26), up from 10.40 at the 2020 census and 8.18 in 2000.
• Poverty and living standards in Sonora: In 2024, 14.1% of the people of Sonora were in multidimensional poverty, about 431,668 people (5th lowest of 32 federal entities; Mexico 29.6%). That is down 7.6 percentage points from 2022 and down 12.5 percentage points from 2018.
• Government budget and revenue in Sonora: The Sonora state government spent 100.1 billion pesos in 2025 according to INEGI's preliminary state public finance statistics, 31,857 pesos per resident, 2nd highest of 32 (all 32 governments combined: 24,691 pesos). Spending was up 4.4% on 2024 and up 9.6% on 2018, before adjusting for inflation.

How states are governed in Mexico

States (31) and Mexico City. Governor (head of government in Mexico City) elected for one six-year term; single-chamber state congress. Own constitutions, courts and laws; police, education and health shared with the federation.

Every tier of government in Mexico

Other states of Mexico

• State of Mexico 17,822,420
• Mexico City 9,159,966
• Jalisco 8,982,027
• Veracruz 8,111,813
• Puebla 7,149,139
• Guanajuato 6,590,749
• Nuevo Leon 6,516,202
• Chiapas 6,185,469
• Michoacan 5,089,383
• Oaxaca 4,368,997
• Baja California 4,189,285
• Chihuahua 4,087,306
• Tamaulipas 3,777,472
• Guerrero 3,606,296
• Coahuila 3,440,385
• Hidalgo 3,334,060
• Sinaloa 3,208,039
• San Luis Potosi 3,002,651
• Queretaro 2,700,978
• Yucatan 2,542,536
• Tabasco 2,472,668
• Quintana Roo 2,141,082
• Morelos 2,067,472
• Durango 1,939,482
• Zacatecas 1,726,898
• Aguascalientes 1,567,559
• Tlaxcala 1,464,515
• Nayarit 1,338,499
• Campeche 962,014
• Baja California Sur 921,734
• Colima 771,538

Up a level: Mexico · government and power in Mexico · cities

Sources

• Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico (SHCP), Unidad de Coordinacion con Entidades Federativas: Financiamientos y obligaciones de entidades federativas y sus entes publicos, por fuente de pago: balances at 30 June 2026 (millions of pesos), from the Registro Publico Unico, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 eb8f66109730…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Estadistica de Finanzas Publicas Estatales y Municipales (EFIPEM), state governments, annual open data 1989-2025 (2025 preliminary): revenue and spending of each state government by chapter, concept and item, in pesos, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c8ace2050ce2…)
• Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico (SHCP), Unidad de Coordinacion con Entidades Federativas: Financiamientos y obligaciones de entidades federativas y sus entes publicos por tipo de acreedor y fuente de pago: balances at 30 June 2026 (millions of pesos), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 eae1d48cad0e…)
• Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico (SHCP), Unidad de Coordinacion con Entidades Federativas: Tasa de interes promedio ponderada por entidad federativa y sus entes publicos, at 30 June 2026, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 41392693e6b3…)
• Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico (SHCP), Unidad de Coordinacion con Entidades Federativas: Sistema de Alertas: evaluacion del nivel de endeudamiento de las Entidades Federativas, 2T-2026 (indicators and ranges), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 ada72d2140d3…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Censo de Poblacion y Vivienda 2020, basic questionnaire tables, Poblacion: table 01, localities and total population by federal entity and locality size, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 387965e04fa3…)
• Consejo Nacional de Poblacion (CONAPO): Conciliacion Demografica de Mexico 1950-2019 y Proyecciones de la poblacion de Mexico y de las entidades federativas 2020-2070: file 5_Indicadores_demograficos_proyecciones.xlsx (mid-year population, median age, ages 65+, fertility, life expectancy and internal migration by entity and year), extracted from the official database archive, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 ee297053c917…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares (ENIGH) 2024, nueva serie, tables by federal entity: 1.3 (households), 2.1 and 2.3 (average quarterly current income per household and per person, deciles and Gini, 2016-2024 at constant 2024 prices), 4.5 (household spending by category), 6.1 (income and spending per household), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 70b3c7ea2dc8…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Encuesta Nacional de Ocupacion y Empleo (ENOE): strategic indicators of occupation and employment, April-June 2026, national and federal entity tables, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 ad9d2139d9ee…)
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• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): ENOE, informalidad laboral: quarterly labour informality and informal-sector rates by federal entity and sex, 2005-2026 (Tasas_Infor_enti-1.xlsx), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d940bbd2871c…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Producto Interno Bruto por Entidad Federativa (PIBE), base year 2018, series 2003-2024 (2024 revised): tables PIBE_2 (GDP), PIBE_4 (gross value added), PIBE_5, PIBE_12 and PIBE_31 (primary, secondary and tertiary activities), PIBE_13 and PIBE_14 (mining, oil mining), PIBE_18 (manufacturing), PIBE_44 (accommodation and food services), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c2de99570137…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Encuesta Intercensal 2025, tabulado 00_EIC_09_01: population by affiliation to health services, by state (API response), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 e969f346c360…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Encuesta Intercensal 2025, tabulado 00_EIC_07_02: population aged 15 and over by literacy, by state (API response), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 27af4908583c…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Encuesta Intercensal 2025, tabulado 00_EIC_07_03: population aged 3 and over by school attendance and age group, by state (API response), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 2ed197022ebf…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Defunciones por homicidio, reporte de resultados 28/26 (3 August 2026): Tabla 1 and Tabla 2, presumed homicides and rate per 100,000 by state of registration, 2012-2025 (2025 preliminary); Tabla 4, population by state on 30 June 2020-2025, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 2575008d23fb…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Estadisticas de Defunciones Registradas (EDR) 2025, reporte de resultados 29/26 (7 August 2026, preliminary): death rates per 100,000 by state of usual residence, crude and age-standardised (graficas 5, 8, 10, 12 and 33), accident death rates by state of occurrence (grafica 26) and deaths by state (cuadro 1), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 7b8ae91e9626…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): ENVIPE 2026 tabulados basicos, I. Nivel de victimizacion y delincuencia: cuadros 1.1 (victims per 100,000 by state and sex, 2025) and 1.12 (crimes per 100,000 by state of occurrence, 2025), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0a4b86a7fbf1…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): ENVIPE 2026 tabulados basicos, III. Denuncia del delito: cuadro 3.3, crimes by state and the share not reported or not investigated (cifra oculta), 2025, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d1d6efe5db3a…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): ENVIPE 2026 tabulados basicos, V. Percepcion sobre la seguridad publica: cuadros 5.13 (perceived safety in the state) and 5.21 (safety walking alone at night near home), February-April 2026, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 354f0437fa98…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Grado promedio de escolaridad de la poblacion de 15 anos y mas por entidad federativa segun sexo, 2000, 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2025 (censuses and intercensal surveys; API response), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 86868b0b467c…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Encuesta Intercensal 2025, tabulado 00_EIC_07_04: population aged 15 and over by level of schooling and age group, by state (API response), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fc8c3139dc7a…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI): Pobreza Multidimensional (PM) 2024: indicadores de pobreza segun entidad federativa, 2016-2024 (poverty, extreme poverty, vulnerability, social deprivations and income lines by state; CONEVAL methodology, ENIGH 2024), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 8ea643bcb158…)

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