Women’s rights in the U.S. have made leaps and bounds since the passage of the 19th Amendment, yet many women still struggle to break the glass ceiling because of unequal treatment in society. Unfortunately, the gender gap in 21st-century America has only expanded.

In 2022, the U.S. failed to place in the top 10, or even the top 25, of the World Economic Forum’s ranking of 146 countries based on gender equality. The U.S. ranked 27th, which is better than the previous year’s rank of 30th.

The workplace provides even more evidence of inequality. Despite their advances toward social equality, women are disproportionately underrepresented in leadership positions. Women comprise more than 50 percent of the population but constitute only 27 percent of legislators and 25 percent of Fortune 500 board seats.

To determine where women receive equal treatment, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 17 key indicators of gender equality. The data set ranges from the gap between female and male executives to the disparity in unemployment rates for women and men.

To determine where women receive the most equal treatment in the U.S., WalletHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Workplace Environment, 2) Education & Health, and 3) Political Empowerment.

They evaluated those dimensions using 17 relevant metrics, including income disparity, the disparity in math test scores, and the disparity in the share of lawmakers in the U.S. Senate. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for women’s equality. For all metrics, they compared the differences between women and men. In certain states and for specific metrics where women showed an advantage over men, we treated the state as having gender equality.

Finally, they determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the sample. The top 10 best states for women’s rights are New Mexico, Nevada, California, New York, Vermont, West Virginia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, and Michigan.

The top 10 worst states for women’s rights are Utah, Georgia, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Alabama. The states where the income gaps for women were the smallest were Connecticut, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Wisconsin. On the other hand, the states where the income gaps were the largest were Maine, Idaho, Wyoming, Louisiana, and Utah.

The states where the executive positions gap was the smallest were Wyoming, Alaska, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Nevada. The states with the largest gap were Utah, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.

The fight for women’s rights has come a long way, but there’s still more work to do. It’s sad that women make up more than 50 percent of the population but only constitute 27 percent of legislators. For women to gain equality, there have to be more opportunities for women to represent in legislation and to be in charge of major corporations. Women are just as intelligent as men, so there should be more opportunities for advancement.