New Mexico has a fascinating history of advanced Indian cultures responsible for cliff dwellings and multi storied stone buildings from the 13th century. Beginning in the 17th century, the area of New Mexico was part of Spanish America, as artifacts, and mission buildings and state names recall. In modern times, New Mexico was critical for the development of aerospace in the United States. It was an area that encouraged new thinking. Robert Goddard, later known as the father of rocketry, set up shop in New Mexico for his experiment in the 1930s, which were attacked and ridiculed until they were shown to be critical breakthroughs. In recent history, New Mexico was the site of the World War II Manhattan Project – the crash project to develop nuclear weapons. There are currently 3 air force bases Kirtland, Holloman and Cannon, in New Mexico, and major national laboratories, Sandia and Los Alamos, which account for a large amount of the economy of the state. These facilities work in nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, and the space program. White Sands Space Harbor, near Las Cruces, is a training center for Shuttle astronauts.

The federal government hires one out of every four New Mexico workers – this includes the U.S. Military, National Parks Service and National Forests. Agriculture and livestock breeding are also a large part of the state’s economy, as is extensive mining, and tourism. There is no sales tax, but a gross receipt tax. The top personal income tax rate is 5.80%, and the top corporate income tax rate is 7.60%. There is no estate or inheritance tax.