With March being Women’s History Month and women holding only around a quarter of the seats in Congress despite making up 51% of the population, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s Best & Worst States for Women, as well as accompanying videos and expert commentary.
To identify the most women-friendly states, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 25 key metrics. The data set ranges from median earnings for female workers to women’s preventive health care to the female homicide rate.
South Dakota was 25th overall.
| Best States for Women | Worst States for Women |
| 1. Massachusetts | 42. Alaska |
| 2. Minnesota | 43. Georgia |
| 3. New York | 44. Texas |
| 4. Hawaii | 45. Idaho |
| 5. District of Columbia | 46. Mississippi |
| 6. Vermont | 47. Louisiana |
| 7. Maryland | 48. South Carolina |
| 8. Iowa | 49. Arkansas |
| 9. Washington | 50. Alabama |
| 10. Rhode Island | 51. Oklahoma |
Best vs. Worst
- The District of Columbia has the highest median earnings for female workers (adjusted for cost of living), $36,309, which is 1.5 times higher than in California, the lowest at $24,585.
- The District of Columbia has the highest share of women who voted in the 2020 presidential election, 86.00 percent, which is 1.5 times higher than in West Virginia, the lowest at 56.00 percent.
- New Hampshire has the lowest share of women living in poverty, 8.30 percent, which is 2.7 times lower than in Mississippi, the highest at 22.30 percent.
- Hawaii has the highest share of women-owned businesses, 24.50 percent, which is 1.8 times higher than in South Dakota, the lowest at 13.57 percent.
- Massachusetts has the lowest female uninsured rate, 2.10 percent, which is 7.9 times lower than in Texas, the highest at 16.50 percent.
To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/
