The states economy has been traditionally linked to the mining industry, and the main products extracted from its soil are sulfur, zinc and lead, followed by silver and gold although the supply of these precious metals has been considerably reduced due to the intensive exploitation of the land in the past. Together with other manufacturing sectors, the mining activity contributes 24% to the Gross Domestic Product of Hidalgo, while the major contributor is the Services sector with 26,5%, followed by a mere 6% coming from the agricultural, forest and fishing industries, which in fact employs almost half of the economically active population in the state, and mainly focuses in products such as green alfalfa and maguey, sugar cane, barley grain, tuna, green bean, sherry coffee, small pumpkin, carp, trout, and a small lake fish called charal.

A study published in the year 2000 by the Mexican census authorities revealed that the state of Hidalgo was upgraded or promoted from a level of "very high marginalization " to one of just "high marginalization.". This subtle improvement in fact implies a great deal for the state, since 48% of the population reside in rural localities where only half the homes enjoy running water, even if now 80% have available sewer systems and almost the entire state enjoys electrical power supply. Worth mentioning as well is the growth experienced by the financial and real-estate sector which now contributes 13,6% to the local GDP; and by the commerce, hotels and restaurants sector with 11,4%, considerably higher percentages when compared to previous years.