A recent study revealed that not every state in the U.S. is great for women, but some are better than others. The best and worst states for women were ranked.
Wallethub ranked these states from best to worst for women.
It was discovered that not only do women outnumber men in some states, but they may still not be getting the best treatment even in those states.
How do women outnumber men in different areas of life, not just states?
Wallethub shares that in most states, women actually outnumber men.
For workers who earn minimum wage, women actually make up two thirds of that population.
Out of the entire United States population, 51% are women.
While they seemingly outnumber men, women only make up 24% of the Senate and 27.6% of the House.
Studies show that women had it the hardest after the COVID-19 recession, are burning out quicker, and leaving the workforce more than men.
How are states rated from best to worst for women?
Wallethub looked at all 50 states as well ass the District of Columbia to determine which was best and which was worse, plus everything in between.
25 key indicators of living standards for women were looked at.
This includes median earnings, health care, and female homicide rates.
Overall, when combining every factor looked at, Massachusetts came in first for the best state for women to live in.
They scored first for women’s health care and safety and third for economic and social well-being.
The worst state was Oklahoma, which came in 51st overall and 50th for both health care and safety for women as well as economic and social well-being.
Measurements used to determine best and worst states for economic and social well-being
The total points for women’s economic and social well-being was 60 points.
The higher the points, the better the state ranked.
Factors:
- Median earnings for female workers
- Unemployment rate for women
- Job security for women
- Share of women living in poverty
- Unaffordability of doctor’s visits
- Share of women owned businesses
- Economic clout of women owned firms
- High school graduation rate for women
- Friendliness toward working mothers
- Friendliness toward equality for women
- Share of women who voted in 2020
Measurements used to determine best and worst states for women’s healthcare and safety
Factors:
- Percentage of women residents ages 12 and older who are fully vaccinated
- Quality of women’s hospitals
- Women between the ages of 18 and 44 who reported having one or more person they viewed as their primary care doctor or healthcare provider
- Lower health care costs
- Greater use of preventive services like flu shots or mammograms
- Fewer ER visits for things that aren’t emergency or are avoidable issues
- Increased patient satisfaction
- Improvements for chronic care management like hypertension
- Female uninsured rate
- Share of women with good or better health
- Physically active women
- Women who are obese
- Baby friendliness
- Suicide rate for women
- Women’s life expectancy at birth
- Female homicide rate
- Prevalence of rape victimization among women
- Other factors the decided which states were the best and worst for women
- The highest median earnings for women workers were the best in the District of Columbia.
- The lowest median earnings for women workers were the worst in California.
States and areas where they were the best and worst for women
Unemployment rates were equally the lowest for women in South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah, and Montana.
They were the highest in Nevada.
For the percentage of women in poverty, the lowest state was New Hampshire and the highest was Mississippi.
Hawaii has the highest rate of women owned businesses. South Dakota has the lowest rate of women owned businesses.
Graduation rates for women were the highest in Nebraska and Wisconsin, but the wrst in Nevada.
The most women voted in the District of Columbia, and the least amount voted in West Virginia.
For the lowest unsinsured rate among women, the best state was Massachusetts.
The highest rate of uninsured women reside in Texas.
Life expectancy after birth has the highest rate in Hawaii and lowest rate in West Virginia.
Finally, the lowest homicide rate for women is in Hawaii and the highest rate of female homicides are in New Mexico and Alaska.
Which state has the best education system? New York’s early education systems are ranked 44th out of the 50 states
Samantha edits our personal finance and consumer news section. Have a question or lead? Send it to [email protected].