California 9th Best State for Women’s Equality

California is 2026’s Ninth Best State for Women’s Equality, WalletHub

With Women’s Equality Day around the corner and the U.S. ranking just 43rd for gender equality worldwide, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on the Best & Worst States for Women’s Equality in 2026, as well as expert commentary, to determine where women receive the most equal treatment in American society.

WalletHub compared the 50 states across 17 key metrics. The data set ranges from the gap between female and male executives to the disparity in unemployment rates for women and men to the income gap.

Women’s Equality in California (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

Overall Rank: 9th
5th – Earnings Gap
6th – Work Hours Gap
1st – Educational Attainment Gap (among Advanced Degree Holders)
12th – Minimum-Wage Workers Gap
1st – Unemployment Rate Gap
15th – Entrepreneurship Rate Gap
19th – Political Representation Gap

“Ensuring women’s equality requires more than simply giving men and women the same fundamental rights,” writes Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst. “States also need to work to make sure that women receive equal treatment to men when it comes to financial opportunities, education, and politics. The best states for women’s equality have drastically reduced the disparities between men and women on multiple fronts.”

“Hawaii is the best state for women’s equality,” according to Lupo. “There is no gap in the rate of men and women who are minimum-wage workers in Hawaii, and women are 1.3% less likely to be unemployed than men. On the education front, by eighth grade, there is only a slight math test score disparity between boys and girls. And when it comes to politics, Hawaii has no gender disparity among its national representatives.”

Expert Commentary

The U.S. currently ranks 58th globally when it comes to the gender gap in health and survival. What is driving this? What should be done to close this gap?
 
“I think it is important to keep in mind that the ranking reflects gaps in healthy life expectancy and the sex ratio at birth, so it is not a complete measure of women’s health care. That said, the U.S. has considerable and serious problems with unequal access, maternal mortality, reproductive health care, and racial bias in the practice of medicine. Black women, in particular, face much higher maternal mortality rates – in 2024, for example, it was three times that of white women. Closing the gap requires affordable coverage, stronger maternal and reproductive care, and better research and treatment that takes into account the differences among women.”
— Marybeth Gasman – Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University – New Brunswick

“This ranking should be interpreted carefully because the World Economic Forum’s Health and Survival measure is relatively narrow, focusing on sex ratios at birth and differences in healthy life expectancy. It does not capture the full range of inequalities women experience in affordability, reproductive healthcare, maternal outcomes, insurance coverage, or geographic access. Nevertheless, the ranking points toward a broader problem: healthcare outcomes are shaped by fragmented and unequal systems of access. Coverage does not guarantee that an appropriate provider is nearby, accepting patients, affordable, or available when needed. More than one-third of U.S. counties are maternity-care deserts, and institutional closures shift travel, coordination, lost work, and financial risk onto women and families. These burdens fall especially heavily on rural women, lower-income women, and women of color. Closing the gap requires protecting reproductive and maternity-care access, strengthening the rural healthcare workforce, expanding insurance coverage, investing in preventive and mental healthcare, and addressing transportation and paid-leave barriers. Policymakers should evaluate healthcare access using measures such as distance, wait time, affordability, continuity, and outcomes – not simply whether a facility technically exists. The central question should be whether women can obtain appropriate care without assuming unreasonable financial, logistical, or personal risk.”
— Emily C. Tanner, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Marketing, John Chambers College of Business and Economics

What policies would prove effective at increasing female representation in senior management roles in the Fortune 500 and other large, multinational corporations?

“It is important for companies to have clear goals, public reporting, and accountability in hiring and promotion. They should track who receives promotions, leadership positions, and sponsorship…and hold senior executives responsible for the results. It is also essential to have transparent promotional standards and guidance, diverse candidate pools, paid family leave, affordable childcare, and flexible work policies. All too often, we ignore the extra weight that women carry in the family despite decades of evidence available to us.”
— Marybeth Gasman – Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University – New Brunswick

“I think one of the best things that organizations and companies can do is be transparent about pay. It helps women and everyone if salary ranges (accurate and realistic ones) are published for potential candidates and current employees to see. Companies should also stop asking candidates for salary history, and this information hurts women who are typically underpaid. They should also conduct regular pay-equity audits and correct disparities. Women cannot challenge pay inequities if salaries are not transparent, and research shows that when transparency policies are in place, gender pay gaps are smaller. I also think broader policies also matter, including paid family leave, affordable childcare, predictable and regular scheduling, protections against discrimination and harassment, and better wages in occupations dominated by women.”
— Marybeth Gasman – Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University – New Brunswick

“The strongest strategies reduce discretion and increase accountability. Employers should publish salary ranges, prohibit reliance on salary history, conduct regular pay-equity audits, and correct unexplained disparities. Compensation reviews should include bonuses, commissions, equity, account assignments, and access to advancement opportunities. Organizations should also establish transparent criteria for hiring, performance evaluation, promotion, and high-visibility assignments. The gender pay gap accumulates over time, so seemingly small inequalities in initial offers, raises, sponsorship, and promotion can become substantial career differences. Managers should be accountable for patterns in their decisions, not merely trained to recognize bias. Paid leave, childcare support, schedule flexibility, and predictable work arrangements are also essential. However, employees who use these policies must not experience a flexibility penalty in performance evaluations or advancement. Otherwise, a formally gender-neutral benefit may reproduce inequality in practice. Finally, equality requires attention to workplace culture. Employees need psychological safety, protection from retaliation and harassment, and confidence that their identities and experiences will be taken seriously. Pay equity is indispensable, but genuine gender equality also requires equitable voice, recognition, opportunity, and well-being.”
— Emily C. Tanner, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Marketing, John Chambers College of Business and Economics

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-women-equality/5835