Best and worst states for gender equality in 2024

In June 2024, the World Economic Forum published the Global Gender Inequality Report 2024, which describes the state of gender equality across dimensions such as economic participation and labor market opportunities, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

The United States ranked 43rd with a score of 0.747 out of 1.0.

WalletHub compared these differences in experiences across three categories: work environment, political empowerment, and education and health, using 17 indicators such as income disparity, education disparity, and lawmaker disparity.

Outlet analyst Chip Lupo told BI, “States at the top of the list tend to have lawmakers at the state and federal level who support legislation to advance women’s equality, as opposed to those at the bottom where there doesn’t seem to be much progress.”

Data used in WalletHub’s report was current as of July 22, 2024, and was collected from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Census Report Card, and the Center for American Women and Policy.

From Texas to Hawaii, here are the five worst and five best states for gender equality in 2024.