Hawaii is the best state in the U.S. for women in the workplace, according to an Aug. 17 ranking from personal finance website WalletHub.
To develop the ranking, WalletHub compared all 50 states across 17 metrics of gender equality, then broke out a workplace environment score based on factors including the pay gap, disparities in executive representation, unemployment rates, job security, economic security and poverty rates. Income disparity, based on median weekly earnings between men and women, carried the most weight in the workplace score.
The overall ranking also included metrics related to education and health and political empowerment.
The ranking comes as women continue to gain ground in healthcare leadership, though unevenly. Women made up 40.5% of hospital and health system leadership appointments tracked by Becker’s between March 14 and Aug. 14, 2026, up from 37.6% over the same window in 2025. The gains were concentrated in certain roles: women’s share of COO appointments jumped from 29.3% to 50.9% year over year, while CMO and CIO appointments remained among the roles where women are least represented, at 26.5% and 16.7%, respectively, in 2026. Chief nursing officer remained the most female-dominated post, at 79.5% of appointments.
Here are the 10 best and worst states for workplace gender equality, per WalletHub, with each state’s overall women’s equality rank in parentheses:
Best
1. Hawaii (1)
2. Vermont (5)
3. Maryland (2)
4. Oregon (8)
5. California (9)
6. Illinois (10)
7. Maine (4)
8. Alaska (3)
9. Arkansas (45)
10. New Mexico (6)
Worst
41. Delaware (28)
42. Oklahoma (49)
43. Georgia (44)
44. New Hampshire (25)
45. Virginia (43)
46. South Carolina (46)
47. Utah (50)
48. Louisiana (41)
49. Alabama (39)
50. Idaho (47)
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