The five worst cities to be a woman in America have been revealed – and they’re all in deep red states.
A research study assessed 182 cities across the United States to identify which are most and least favorable for women to establish their lives. The evaluation was based on factors such as the female unemployment rate and access to reproductive rights.
The most highly weighted factor was median earnings for women.
All five of the worst cities overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump in 2024 election.
Milvionne Chery, representing WalletHub, the organization behind the study, stated, “Choosing the right city can greatly enhance a woman’s economic status, health, and safety. The best cities provide job stability and competitive salaries, fostering women’s financial independence.
These cities also emphasize security, ensure the availability of medical services, and have top-notch hospitals, which collectively support the physical and mental well-being of women.”
The authors of the study noted the persistent gender wage gap in the U.S. and highlighted the importance for women to be situated in cities that offer them an advantage.
“Since women earn, on average, only 80 percent of what their male counterparts make, even in identical roles, achieving financial stability and independence requires being in regions with ample employment opportunities,” explained Angela Hattery, a sociologist and author on topics such as intimate partner violence.
Jackson, Mississippi, was identified as the least favorable city for women, mainly due to its substantial rates of female unemployment and the high percentage of women living in poverty.
The single worst city was determined to be Jackson, Mississippi, because of its high proportion of female unemployment and its high percentage of women living in poverty.
Jackson is the capital city and sits near the center of the state. For decades, it has been dealing with an ever-shrinking tax base thanks to white residents moving out of the city and into the suburbs.
And in March, Mississippi enacted a further tax cut that will eventually reduce the individual income tax rate down to 0 percent.
Jackson is also known for its horrific water crisis in the summer of 2022, which left its 150,000 residents without access to running water for weeks thanks to a flooding-induced failure.
The second worst city for women to live in according to WalletHub is Huntington, West Virginia.
Like Jackson, Huntington has one of the highest percentages of women living in poverty in the US.
Additionally, it ranks last in women’s life expectancy, which isn’t a surprise given that women in West Virginia live the shortest on average as of 2021.
According to CDC data, a woman born in the state lives to 74.2 years old on average, whereas a woman born in Hawaii can expect to live for 83.1 years, the highest in the nation.
Rounding out the top five cities that were ranked the least desirable for women were Fort Smith, Arkansas, Shreveport, Louisiana and Gulfport, Mississippi.
The states containing these five cities all have near-total abortion bans, with only exceptions generally being if the woman’s life is in danger or if the fetus won’t survive outside the womb.
Homeless people lay down on the sidewalk in Jackson, Mississippi
Used needles are seen near railroad tracks in Huntington, West Virginia, where women have low life expectancies
WalletHub’s best cities for women were in a mix of blue and red states, with the top choice being Columbia, Maryland.
Women living in Columbia, which is situated between Baltimore and Washington, DC, have the highest median earnings in the country.
In fact, data from Pew Research indicates that women in the Washington, DC metro area make 2 percent more than men in wages as a whole.
Women living in Columbia specifically make three times more than women in Santa Ana, California, the place with the lowest median wages for the demographic.
Chery said Columbia also ranks highly because it has the ‘tenth-best life expectancy for women at birth, and ranks among the top 15 cities when it comes to both access to cervical cancer screenings and mammograms.’
Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, is another place for women to go if they want to earn high wages relative to their cost of living.
Atlanta, Georgia, and Scottsdale, Arizona, are also good places for women to build a sustainable career, according to WalletHub.
