Nogales, Arizona - Economy

Economy

The economy of Nogales is heavily dependent on the cross-border trade through its Ports of Entry by produce distributors and American-based manufacturing plants in Nogales, Sonora and throughout the rest of the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa. Most of Nogales' economy is based on agribusiness and produce distributors, which comes from large farms in the Mexican agri-belt. Despite its small population, Nogales actually receives much patronage from its bordering sister-city, Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Most observers guess the population of Nogales, Sonora, at roughly 300,000. International commerce is a big part of Nogales’ economy. More than 60 percent of Nogales’ sales tax comes from the estimated 30,000 Mexican shoppers crossing the border daily. Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, are home to one of the largest maquiladora clusters. This enables American manufacturing plants on both sides of the border to take advantage of favorable wage and operating costs and excellent transportation and distribution networks.

The Consulate-General of Mexico in Nogales is located on 135 W. Cardwell St.,

The United States Department of Homeland Security is a major economic driver in the Ambos Nogales region, with thousands of employees working for both the Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection. Due to the large federal, state, and local police presence, Nogales has one of the highest police per-capita levels in the United States.

The largest employers in Nogales are:

• Alpha Pro-Tech Apparel
• City of Nogales
• County of Santa Cruz
• Dependable Home Health
• E.D.S. Manufacturing
• Holy Cross Hospital
• Home Depot
• Mariposa Community Health Center
• Nogales Unified School District
• Otis Elevator
• Prestolite Wire Corporation
• Santa Cruz County Constable
• UPS Supply Chain Solutions
• Wal-Mart