Best & Worst States for Working Moms

2026’s Best & Worst States for Working Moms

When it comes to the issue of working moms, suffice it to say that California has room for improvement.

With Mother’s Day approaching and 74% of women with children under 18 participating in the labor force in 2025, personal-finance company WalletHub has released its report on 2026’s Best & Worst States for Working Moms.

To highlight the states that offer the strongest support for mothers in the workforce, WalletHub analyzed all 50 states and the District of Columbia using 17 key metrics. The data set includes factors such as women’s median salaries, female unemployment rates, and the quality of day-care options.

Life as a Working Mom in California (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

Overall Rank: 30th
37th – Day-Care Quality
48th – Child-Care Costs (Adjusted for Median Women’s Salary)
13th – Pediatricians per Capita
5th – Gender Pay Gap (Women’s Earnings as % of Men’s)
33rd – Ratio of Female Executives to Male Executives
48th – Median Women’s Salary (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
48th – Female Unemployment Rate
6th – Parental-Leave Policy Score
16th – Avg. Length of Woman’s Work Week (in Hours)
15th – % of Single-Mom Families in Poverty

“The U.S. still has a lot of work to do when it comes to improving conditions for working moms, given the wage gap and the lack of representation women have in certain leadership positions,” Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst writes in his report. “However, some states are significantly better than others. The best states for working moms provide equitable pay for women and a strong potential for career advancement, along with robust parental leave policies and high-quality child care, health care, and schools.”

Connecticut ranks as the best state for working moms, and it had some of the lowest unemployment rates for women last year, at just 2.7%, according to Lupo. It also has a small gender pay gap, with women earning over 89% of what men make, the fourth-highest rate in the country highlighting the state’s commitment to pay equity and economic opportunities for women, according to Lupo. Finally, Connecticut has very good parental-leave policies and is among the best places in the country for working from home.