The industries of Sonora include agriculture, livestock production, forestry, fishing and tourism. There is also an active maquila or "twin plant" manufacturing industry.

Tourists are attracted to several of the beach areas including, Puerto Peñasco or "Rocky Point", San Carlos and Bahia Kino or "Kino Bay". Alamos, an interior colonial town, is also a popular tourist destination.

The climate is mostly dry and desert-like with little or no rainfall, although there is a strip of hillsides and valleys from the central to the southern coast, extending towards the north that is subtropical, and you will find cold and snow in the high mountains in the northeastern part of the state.

Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, has over 500,000 residents. Here you will encounter, among other things, the Sonoran Government Center and the University of Sonora. Guaymas is a busy port city of over 90,000 inhabitants just south of San Carlos.