Best & worst states for women’s equality

Women’s rights in the U.S. have made leaps and bounds since the passage of the 19th Amendment, yet many women still struggle to break the glass ceiling because of unequal treatment in society. Unfortunately, the gender gap in 21st century America has only expanded. In 2025, the U.S. failed to place in the top 10 — or even the top 30 — of the World Economic Forum’s ranking of 148 countries based on gender equality. The U.S. ranked 42nd, up one place from the previous year.

The workplace provides even more evidence of inequality. Despite their advances toward social equality, women are disproportionately underrepresented in leadership positions. Women make up more than 50 percent of the population, but constitute only around 28% of legislators and 33% of S&P 500 board seats. 

To determine where women receive the most equal treatment, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 17 key indicators of gender equality. Our data set ranges from the gap between female and male executives to the disparity in unemployment rates for women and men. 

Top 5 States for Women’s Equality

1. Hawaii
2. Nevada
3. Maryland
4. Maine
5. Oregon

“Ensuring women’s equality requires more than simply giving men and women the same fundamental rights. States also need to work to make sure that women receive equal treatment to men when it comes to financial opportunities, education, and politics. The best states for women’s equality have drastically reduced the disparities between men and women on multiple fronts.” Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst

Main Findings

Best States for Women’s Rights

Overall Rank	State	Total Score	Workplace EnvironmentRank	Education & HealthRank	Political EmpowermentRank
1	Hawaii	72.49	4	18	1
2	Nevada	70.54	8	6	9
3	Maryland	69.91	7	8	11
4	Maine	68.84	6	29	3
5	Oregon	68.17	2	28	14
6	New Mexico	67.93	10	13	9
7	California	67.91	1	19	19
8	Iowa	67.81	25	4	8
9	Alaska	66.66	5	37	2
10	Vermont	66.37	3	5	24
11	Michigan	65.17	32	26	4
12	Minnesota	64.79	19	30	6
13	Wisconsin	64.61	16	15	16
14	Massachusetts	64.41	21	22	13
15	New York	64.36	17	24	12
16	Illinois	63.71	30	17	15
17	Connecticut	62.58	20	1	25
18	West Virginia	61.30	28	9	21
19	Washington	58.77	41	39	7
20	Tennessee	58.39	31	2	32
21	Delaware	56.75	37	45	5
22	Georgia	56.46	14	12	42
23	Mississippi	56.43	43	3	33
24	Kentucky	55.60	24	7	46
25	Kansas	55.20	22	27	31
26	Pennsylvania	55.13	39	20	27
27	Colorado	55.10	15	46	20
28	South Dakota	54.97	42	16	37
29	Arizona	54.77	9	44	23
29	New Hampshire	54.77	45	36	18
31	Nebraska	54.39	23	32	29
32	Missouri	54.29	18	11	50
33	Montana	54.13	13	35	36
34	South Carolina	53.38	40	10	44
35	North Carolina	53.34	12	38	35
36	Florida	52.56	11	42	30
37	North Dakota	52.45	26	34	45
38	Rhode Island	52.25	36	25	38
39	Indiana	52.01	35	23	47
40	Alabama	51.86	48	21	26
41	Ohio	50.89	34	31	40
42	Virginia	49.85	44	33	34
43	New Jersey	49.80	46	41	22
44	Wyoming	48.24	47	47	17
45	Oklahoma	46.97	29	43	41
46	Louisiana	46.66	49	14	43
47	Arkansas	46.36	33	40	49
48	Idaho	41.96	38	48	48
49	Texas	41.89	27	49	39
50	Utah	29.93	50	50	28

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

In-Depth Look at the Best States for Women’s Equality

Hawaii

Hawaii is the best state for women’s equality because men and women enjoy very similar conditions in the workplace, in schools and in politics. 

There is no gap in the rate of men and women who are minimum-wage workers in Hawaii, which is encouraging because it’s typical for a lot more women to earn the minimum wage than men. Moreover, women are 0.5% less likely to be unemployed than men, and they also have a 3.2% better job security rate, which means conditions for getting and keeping jobs are pretty equal, or may even be more favorable for women.

In addition, there’s only a 1.1% difference in math scores between Hawaiian girls and boys in fourth grade, favoring boys, but by eighth grade, the difference drops to 0.6%. This shows that schools are adequately preparing both boys and girls for the future.

Finally, Hawaii has no gender disparity in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, with an equal share of political representatives being men and women. The state legislature does skew more male, though.

Nevada

Nevada is the second-best state for women’s equality. One area where it shines is having the fourth-lowest gender disparity among people who make $100,000 or more per year. Only 8.3% more men achieve salaries of $100k+ than women. While this may seem like a high gap, the state with the lowest gap is California, at 7.9%.

In Nevada, women only have a 0.1% worse unemployment rate than men. In addition, only 1% fewer women are economically secure than men. Economic security means having enough income to grow your assets on top of meeting your basic monthly expenses.

When it comes to education, there is only a slight difference in the share of men and women with advanced college degrees in Nevada, which helps explain why women are receiving high salaries at a rate close to men.

Maryland

Maryland is the third-best state for women’s equality, with the sixth-lowest pay gap between men and women. All states have a gender pay gap, but in Maryland, women’s median weekly earnings are only 11.5% lower than men’s. While there’s still plenty of progress to be made, that gap is far better than the often-cited “70 cents on the dollar.”

When it comes to politics, Maryland sends equal shares of men and women to the U.S. Senate, and its state elected executives are on par, but there are still gaps to be filled when it comes to the state legislature and the House of Representatives.

Finally, women in Maryland only have a 0.4% worse unemployment rate than men, and there’s only about a 1.9% gap in the share of men and women who have advanced college degrees. This demonstrates that the state has equity in education and the job market.

Methodology

To determine where women receive the most equal treatment in the U.S., WalletHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Workplace Environment, 2) Education & Health and 3) Political Empowerment. 

We evaluated those dimensions using 17 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for women’s equality. For all metrics, we compared the differences between women and men. In certain states and for certain metrics where women showed an advantage over men, we treated the state as having gender equality. 

Finally, we determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Workplace Environment – Total Points: 40.00

1. Income Disparity: Triple Weight (~12.63 Points)
   Note: “Income” refers to median weekly earnings.
2. Higher-Income Disparity: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
   Note: “Higher Income” refers to median annual earnings of $100,000 or more.
3. Disparity in Share of Executive Positions: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
4. Disparity in Share of Minimum-Wage Workers: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)
5. Unemployment-Rate Disparity: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
6. Entrepreneurship-Rate Disparity: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
7. Disparity in Average Number of Work Hours: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)
   Note: “Average Number of Work Hours” pertains to full-time workers.
8. Job Security Disparity: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)
9. Economic Security Disparity: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)

Note: This metric is based on the Basic Economic Security Tables (BEST) Index, which measures how much income working adults of different family types need to be economically secure. Economic security means having “enough income to meet basic monthly expenses—such as housing, food, transportation and child care expenses—and save for emergencies and retirement.”

10. Disparity in Poverty Rate: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)

Education & Health – Total Points: 40.00

11. Disparity in Advanced Educational Attainment: Full Weight (~13.33 Points)
    Note: “Advanced Educational Attainment” refers to the share of the population aged 25 and older with an advanced degree (higher than a bachelor’s degree).
12. Disparity in Math Test Scores: Full Weight (~13.33 Points)
13. Disparity in Doctor-Visit Affordability: Full Weight (~13.33 Points)
    Note: This metric measures the share of adults who could not afford a doctor’s visit in the past year due to costs.

Political Empowerment – Total Points: 20.00

14. Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in U.S. Senate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
15. Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in U.S. House of Representatives: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
16. Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in State Legislature: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
17. Disparity in Share of State-Elected Executives: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of July 21, 2025 from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Women’s Law Center, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, The Nation’s Report Card, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and Center for American Women and Politics.