MINNESOTA, USA — There is still plenty of work to do in 2021 when it comes to leveling the playing field between women and men, but a new survey suggests Minnesota is doing a better job than most.
The Gopher State is ranked number one by personal finance website WalletHub when it comes to being woman-friendly. To compile the rankings, America's 50 states and the District of Columbia were compared on 26 different metrics ranging from median earnings for female workers and women’s preventive health care to the female homicide rate.
Minnesota finished at the top of the heap, with Maine, Vermont, North Dakota and the District of Columbia rounding out the top five. Wisconsin and South Dakota were ranked 9 and 10 respectively.
WalletHub ranked Mississippi as the worst state in the country for women to live, followed by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Below are the categories that helped Minnesota earn top spot in the survey.
Woman-Friendliness of Minnesota (1=Best, 25=Avg.):
- 2nd – Median Earnings for Female Workers (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
- T-4th – Share of Women in Poverty
- 4th – High School Graduation Rate for Women
- 5th – Women’s Life Expectancy at Birth
- 6th – Quality of Women’s Hospitals
- 6th – Female Uninsured Rate
- 8th – Share of Women Who Voted in 2016 Presidential Election
- 11th – Unemployment Rate for Women
- 11th – Women’s Preventive Health Care
For a deeper dive on the survey and how a panel of experts ranked the states, check out WalletHub's website.