WalletHub Maps 2019 Best & Worst States For Women

In recent years, credit reporting and personal finance company, WalletHub, has ramped up its efforts on releasing studies aimed at shedding light on topics such as economic well-being, housing affordability and quality of life. Today, just in time for Women’s History Month, WalletHub has released its 2019 ranking of the best and worst states for women.

To determine how women are faring across the 50 states and in the District of Columbia, Wallethub measured against 24 key indicators of living standards for women. Researchers looked at data for things like unemployment rate, percentage living in poverty, life expectancy, homicide rate, graduation rate and median earnings. Each factor was assigned a weighted numeric value and, from those values, each state was given an overall score out of 100. In general, when comparing the top scorers versus the lowest across each category, it becomes clear that some states leave much to be desired for women. If you’re thinking of making a move anytime soon, you might want to take note of some of the major findings:

Median Earnings For Female Workers (Adjusted for Cost of Living)

The best: District of Columbia, Delaware, Minnesota, Virginia, Maryland

The worst: New York, Maine, Hawaii, Utah, California

Percentage of Women in Poverty

The best: New Hampshire, Maryland, Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii

The worst: Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi

Percentage of Women-Owned Businesses

The best: Alaska, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Georgia

The worst: Vermont, Utah, Nebraska, Idaho, South Dakota

High School Graduation Rate for Women

The best: Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa

The worst: Alabama, New Mexico, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada

Percentage of Women Who Voted in the 2016 Election

The best: District of Columbia, Maine Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Washington

The worst: Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Hawaii

Female Uninsured Rate

The best: Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Vermont,. Hawaii, Minnesota

The worst:  Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska, Texas

Women’s Life Expectancy at Birth

The best: Hawaii, California, Minnesota, Connecticut, Massachusetts

The worst: Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi

Female Homicide Rate

The best: Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Vermont

The worst: Tennessee, Arkansas, Nevada, Louisiana, Alaska

All of the above dimensions, alongside sixteen others, were grouped to form two major rankings: one for Women’s Economic & Social Well-Being and one for Women’s Health & Safety. Minnesota came out on top for Women’s Economic & Social Well-Being with South Carolina coming in last. Massachusetts claimed the top spot for Women’s Health & Safety and Arkansas brought up the rear. Overall, it was Minnesota that earned top marks across the board and Louisiana that finished last with at total numeric score that was 54% lower than that of Minnesota. In previous studies, Wallethub also named Minnesota the number one best state to raise a family, the second best state for working moms and the second best state for women’s equality.

Within this newest study, researchers made note of one trend that stood out among the data: generally, women in blue states fared better than those in red states. On average, states that were blue in the 2016 election earned an average rank of 14.67 whereas 2016’s red states came in at an average rank of 33.93. Regionally, it appears that in the Midwest and the Northeast, women fared well.

The study did not break down data further by race, ethnicity or education level.

Read original article on Forbes