Recently, Movehub published a ranking of states in the US based on their living quality for women in 2017. According to Movehub, which is an advisory website for international relocations, their research team gathered data from several different sources in order to compile this nationwide report. Some of the sources included statistics from the National Partnership for Women and Families, Americans United for Life, the National Conference of State Legislatures, WalletHub, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Violence Policy Center.

Movehub did not look at overall quality life, but compiled statistics from different categories that affect the status of women, such as gender pay gap, political representation in the state legislature, equality in education, accessibility to health insurance, reproductive rights, and the number of incidents of violence against women at the hands of men. Later, they compared the data from all 50 states, and ranked them individually. However, Movehub also calculated an overall score by combining all separate scores from the individual states and factors.

According to the report, the study’s results indicate, “[S]tates that scored poorly in terms of political representation also did badly on factors such as equal pay and women’s reproductive rights, suggesting that the quality of women’s lives is somewhat determined by inequality in government.”

The winner of the overall ranking is the state of Hawaii. According to the report, the state scored exceptionally high in the categories of women’s health and well being.

“Only 6 percent of the female population do not have health insurance—one of the lowest figures across all 50 states,” said the report.

Furthermore, the state was also an exceptionally safe place for women to live.

“Hawaii produced the lowest number of incidents of women being murdered by men—0.14 per 100,000 females.”

On the other end of the ranking, according to the survey, was Oklahoma—making it the worst US state for women to live in. This is especially true in light of the current legislation, which impairs women’s ability to reach a high living quality.

“Following recent laws to strengthen the state’s hand in preventing women from accessing public abortion funds, Oklahoma ranked particularly poorly on women’s reproductive rights. The state has a particularly conservative approach to female abortion rights,” continued the report.

In the ranking, Massachusetts was placed in the top 10 best states for women to live in, landing in ninth place. However, it was not the only state from New England. Vermont was ranked second while Maine came in as the sixth best state. The remaining New England states were also ranked relatively high on the list; all six states placed in the top 20. Rhode Island barely missed the top 10, coming in at 11 instead. New Hampshire was ranked the 15, and Connecticut came in at 18.

Overall, Northeastern states reached higher spots in the ranking. New York received seventh place, therefore making the top 10 best states. New Jersey scored close behind, as it was considered the thirteenth best place in the ranking. Pennsylvania was the worst-performing state of the Northeast, coming in at 33.

When looking at the report, it becomes evident that apart from the Northeastern United States, the coastal states in the West were the clear winners of this ranking. California was ranked at 8, while Oregon came in at 14 and Washington scored at number 12.

Furthermore, the survey collected evidence which shows that all Southern states scored on the lower end of the report.
In order to view the full report, go to movehub.com.