Best States For Women 2017

In case you are considering a move, it literally pays to learn about your options. With the gender wage gap being what it is — and what it calls a "clear national disillusion with the state of gender equality".

The study used data from all 50 states on the gender pay gap, political representation in the state legislature, education equality, access to health insurance, reproductive rights, and number of incidents of violence against women by men. The researchers combined rankings for each factor to present an overall score.

This may not come as a shock to most of you, but the study found that states with fewer women in the legislature also scored lower in other fields, like equal pay and reproductive rights. The obvious conclusion to draw is that electing more women leads to better overall quality of life, since wage equality benefits everybody.

Other states that fared well included Vermont, Minnesota, Illinois, and Maryland (teeny-tiny shoutout to my home state). States that are considered the worst for women include Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Given that lawmakers in Oklahoma recently introduced a bill that would require a woman to seek permission from the man who impregnated her to have an abortion.