The economy of the Mexican state of Hidalgo is based on a free market system. Its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 was $31.8 billion USD, contributing 1.72% to Mexico's national GDP.

Hidalgo's largest economic sectors are producing manufacturing, textile manufacturing, and metallurgy. Hidalgo's exports comprise industrial machinery, transportation technology, and mineral products.

The state of Hidalgo is traditionally a mining center. The main products extracted from its soil are sulfur, zinc, and lead; silver and gold are also extracted, although reserves have largely been depleted. Agriculturally, the main crops include alfalfa, maguey, sugarcane, barley, beans, and coffee. Hidalgo's waters have carp, trout, and a small lake fish called charal.

Economic indicators

Gross domestic product GDP Hidalgo. Percentage share in current values (preliminary figures) Sector of economic activity Percentage Primary Activities 3.67Agriculture, animal husbandry and exploitation, forestry, fishing and hunting 3.67 Side Activities 41.98Mining 1.06Generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, water, and gas supply by pipelines to the final consumer 2.52Construction 9.56Manufacturing 28.84 Tertiary activities 54.35Commerce 14.38Temporary lodging and food and beverage preparation services 1.87Transport and Information in the Mass Media 8.91Financial & Real Estate Services 13.79Educational & Medical Services 9.07Government Activities 4.52Other services 1.81 Source: INEGI (2015).

The gross domestic product of Hidalgo amounted to 276,784 million pesos in 2014, and the GDP per capita was 97,364 pesos.

Manufacturing industries are the most important sector in Hidalgo; these industries contributed 33.3% of Hidalgo's GDP in 2003 in current pesos. This contribution decreased to 29% in 2014, due to a low real average annual growth of 0.7% from 2003 to 2014. Among the sectors that grew the most during this period were financial and insurance services, information, and mass media, which presented average annual real growth rates of 13.3 and 9.4%, respectively, figures well above the 2.7% reached by the total GDP of the state in the period. Tula de Allende concentrates almost half of the wealth generation in the state, contributing 0.34% of the gross domestic product (GDP). However, according to the Mexican Business Information System (MBIS), there are very few companies in that region. Tula contributes 47.6 percent of the state's gross domestic product (GDP), and Pachuca de Soto contributes 13.6 percent of the wealth, so between the two cities they concentrate more than 60 percent of the total value.

Human Development Index

The most recent information (2023) places Hidalgo with a state Human Development Index of 0.77 (High), comparable to Azerbaijan. The gross domestic product of Hidalgo in 2014 represented 1.7% of the national total and, compared to the previous year, had an increase of 0.12%. As of December 2025, the unemployment rate was 1.95%.

In 2010, Mineral de la Reforma was the municipality with the highest human development in Hidalgo, with an HDI of 0.822; in contrast, the municipality with the lowest performance in the state is Tepehuacán de Guerrero, whose HDI is 0.537. The development gap between the two municipalities is 34.6%.

Comparing the difference in development of the municipalities to countries, in Hidalgo there are development conditions similar to those of Barbados and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

The 10 highest HDIs by municipality (2010). Stand Municipality HDI 2010 Report Change from 2005 report 2010 Report1 (1) Mineral de la Reforma 0.8222 (1) Pachuca de Soto 0.8033 (7) Mineral del Monte 0.7594 (1) Tizayuca 0.7585 (2) Tepeapulco 0.7576 Tlanalapa 0.7487 (3) Tula de Allende 0.7488 (1) Progreso 0.7469 (11) Actopan 0.74310 (1) Atotonilco de Tula 0.742

The 10 lowest HDIs by municipality (2010). Stand Municipality HDI 2010 Report Change from 2005 report 2010 Report75 (7) Yahualica 0.57476 (1) Flower Footsteps 0.57477 (2) Acaxochitlán 0.57078 (2) Huehuetla 0.57079 (4) San Bartolo Tutotepec 0.56880 (4) Xochiatipan 0.56781 (16) Tenango de Doria 0.56782 (16) Calnali 0.55883 (7) The Mission 0.54284 (3) Tepehuacán de Guerrero 0.537

Economically active population and employed personnel

In 2013, the total number of people employed was 353,978; of these, 50.4% corresponded to paid employed personnel; 37.5% to owners, family members, and other workers, who collaborated for the economic unit without receiving remuneration, and 12.1% were made up of personnel who are non-dependent on the company name. For the total employed personnel, 33.1% were concentrated in Commerce, 32.4% in Non-Financial Private Services, and 25.7% in Manufacturing.

By the third quarter of 2016, the Economically Active Population (EAP) amounted to 1,230,173 people, of whom 61.7% were men and 38.3% were women. In total, the EAP represented 57.64% of the working-age population. Of the total EAP, 97.33% was occupied and 2.67% unoccupied. Of the total, 798,603 were salaried, 290,541 were self-employed, 48,304 were employers, and 59,909 were unpaid.

Poverty and social marginalization Percentage and number of people by poverty indicator. Indicator Population Percentage of population Moderate poverty 1,197,356 42.0% Extreme poverty 350 456 12.3% Vulnerable due to social deprivation 735 629 25.8% Income Vulnerable 145 501 5.1% Not poor and not vulnerable 421 354 14.8% Unspecified 8063 Source: Estimates by the CONEVAL, 2014. According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy in 2014, 54.3% of the total population lived in poverty, of which 42.0% were in moderate poverty, and 12.3% were in extreme poverty. According to measurements, in 2008, 55.0% of the population was in poverty; by 2010, it decreased to 54.8%, by 2012, it decreased to 52.8%, and by 2014, the percentage increased again to 54.3%. The municipalities with the highest percentage of their population living in poverty were Yahualica, Xochiatipan, Tepehuacán de Guerrero, Huehuetla, and Calnali. The municipalities with the lowest percentage of their population living in extreme poverty were: Mineral de la Reforma, Pachuca de Soto, Tizayuca, Atotonilco de Tula, and Tepeji del Río de Ocampo. On the other hand, those with the highest concentration of people in poverty were: Pachuca de Soto, Huejutla de Reyes, Tulancingo de Bravo, Ixmiquilpan, Tula de Allende.

The municipalities with the highest percentage of the population living in extreme poverty were: Xochiatipan, Yahualica, Huehuetla, Tepehuacán de Guerrero and San Felipe Orizatlán. The municipalities with the lowest percentage of their population living in extreme poverty were: Mineral de la Reforma, Pachuca de Soto, Tizayuca, Atotonilco de Tula and Tepeapulco.

19.1% of the population is behind in education; 17.3% lack access to health services; 68.9% lack access to social security; 9.2 9.2% lack access to housing; 27.0% lack basic services in their homes, and 31.7% lack access to food.

The three municipalities with the highest degree of marginalization in the state are: Huehuetla, Yahualica and Xochiatipan. The five municipalities with the lowest degree of marginalization in the state are: Pachuca de Soto, Mineral de la Reforma, Tepeapulco, Tizayuca, and Atitalaquia.

Economic sectors Primary activities

The primary activities include agriculture, ranching, fishing, and forestry. The territory of Hidalgo has an area of 2.1 million hectares. 29% are used for agriculture, 39% for livestock, 22% for forest areas, 9% for urban areas, roads, facilities, and similar, and only 1% is occupied by bodies of water.

Agriculture

The agricultural area planted in 2013 was 576,907 hectares, of which 146,428 hectares were irrigated (25.4%) and 430,479 hectares were rainfed (74.6%). Of the seventy-six crops planted in the state, the main ones in account of planted area were corn (44%), barley (19%), alfalfa (8%), bean (6%), fodder oats (5%), cherry coffee (4%), and pastures (4%), which together account for 91% of the total area.

The production volume of 7,557,117 tons, in turn, 5,732,467 tons were produced in irrigation (75.9%) and 1,824,650 tons in rainfed (24.1%). The main crops in terms of production are: alfalfa (58%), pastures (12%), corn (9%), forage oats (7%), maguey (6%), and barley (2%), that add up to 93% of the state's production. The value of production amounted to 8,015,293,000 pesos, 4,018,827,000 pesos (50.1%) in irrigation, and 3,996,466,000 pesos (49.9%) in rainfall.

The irrigated area is 154,000 ha, comprising 90,000  hectares of the Irrigation Districts and the rest corresponding to the 646 Irrigation Units, located mainly in the Tulancingo and Tecozautla Valleys. 66% of the irrigated area is located in the Rural Development District of Mixquiahuala; 13.83% in the Rural Development District of Huichapan; 9.6% in the Rural Development District of Tulancingo and the remaining 10.57% is distributed in the Rural Development Districts of Huejutla, Zacualtipán and Pachuca. The largest agricultural area is the one bathed by the Tula River. The production of non-traditional crops for the production of innovative products, such as preparations based on amaranth, xoconostle, and maguey honey.

Hidalgo is the first state in Mexico in the production of grain barley, coriander seed, pulquero maguey, lion's hand and forage turnip; in second place of national production are green alfalfa, alstroemeria (coarse), peas, pomegranate, cloud and Zempoaxochitl. In third place: canola, green fodder barley, green beans and figs; in fourth place nationally: olives, oats, grain oats, sugar cane other uses, peas, cauliflower, beans and prickly pears; and fifth: artichoke, raspberry and radish.

Prickly pears, apples, citrus, and coffee are also significant crops.

Ranching

The volume of livestock production during the year 2013 was 545,000, of which 109,732 tons were carcass meat, highlighting the production of sheep. The value of livestock production amounted to 8.015 billion pesos. Its main products are classified into three categories: carcass meat with a share of 20.6%, milk 78.0%, and other products 1.4%.

In turn, the most prominent products were milk from bovine livestock at 78%, carcass meat from poultry 10.8%, bovine carcass meat at 5.9%, carcass meat pork at 2.2%, and carcass meat sheep at 1.4%, which together represent 98.2% of the state's livestock production.

Hidalgo has a wide tradition of sheep ranching concentrated in the regions of Apan, Tulancingo de Bravo, Tizayuca, Actopan and Ixmiquilpan. There are seven slaughterhouses and nineteen slaughterhouses, which have coverage in twenty-eight municipalities of the state, with fifty-six municipalities without a registered establishment.

The products that stand out in their production at the national level are: 2nd place in Sheep carcass meat, 9th place in bovine milk, 6th place in meat in the Guajolote Canal, 15th place in Poultry carcass meat and bee honey.

Fishing and aquaculture

Aquaculture production in the state has gained relevance in recent years, with the consolidation of the trout and tilapia production chains. During the 2013 cycle, there was a production volume of 8,000 tons with a production value of 193.5 million pesos.

The volume of fishing production in Hidalgo is 8,000 tons, ranking 2nd nationally in fishing production in states without coastline. The main species are carp, with 55.6% participation in production, mojarra, with 39.1%, and trout, with 3.7%, which represent 98.4% of production state.

It is a state with important fishing and aquaculture activities; produces annually: 3,531.3 tons with a value of 52.2 million pesos. The main species caught are mojarra, tilapia, carp, trout and charal.