Report Highlights the Best States for Women to Live

Last month, The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) released its final two reports in a seven-part series on women’s progress in all 50 states. The organization, which was founded in 1987, conducts research in order to address the needs of women and inform policies and programs.

The institute’s latest data is the result of nearly 20 years of research and reports. The institute has been analyzing this kind of data since 1996, focusing on aspects like demographics, economic security, education, reproductive rights, political participation, civic engagement and access to health care and work supports. The latest report updates its previous 2004 report with data that represents the United States’ landscape in 2015.

To quantify the results, IWPR assigned grades to each state based on seven categories: employment and earnings, poverty and opportunity, work and family, violence and safety, reproductive rights, health and well-being and political participation. According to the report, Minnesota is the best state for women in America. The worst states for women were primarily southern states, with Mississippi and Alabama at the very bottom of the list.