Most populous doesn’t mean overpopulated. It’s also one of the largest states by area. Also I’ll take living in a big city like LA or SF of some boring ass small town any day of the week. The income inequality is definitely an issue don’t get me wrong, but New Mexico is objectively the worst blue state not California. It has all of the negatives that places like Alabama and Mississippi have in terms of crime, poverty, and education without all of the cool shit Cali has. The only real flex they have is that they filmed Breaking Bad there.