{"id":195597,"date":"2026-03-08T11:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T11:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/195597\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T11:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T11:06:12","slug":"texas-ranks-among-worst-states-for-women-in-2026-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/195597\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas ranks among worst states for women in 2026, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"People participate in the Women's March on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   style=\"aspect-ratio:3 \/ 2\" class=\"x100 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block bg-gray200 mnh0px fill\"\/><\/p>\n<p>People participate in the Women&#8217;s March on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>Aurora Samperio\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Texas is one of the worst states in the country for women, according to a new 2026 WalletHub report released ahead of International Women\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-channels-pixel.ex.co\/events\/0012000001fxZm9AAE?integrationType=DEFAULT&amp;template=design%2Farticle%2Fplatypus_two_column.tpl\" alt=\"\" class=\"x1px y1px vh abs\" aria-hidden=\"true\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Lone Star State ranked fourth worst overall, ahead of only Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Despite accounting for nearly 51% of the U.S. population and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/state-health-policy-data\/state-indicator\/distribution-by-sex\/?currentTimeframe=0&amp;sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">outnumbering men<\/a> in most states, women experience significant social, economic and political disadvantages. Over two-thirds of all minimum wage workers in the country are women, <a href=\"https:\/\/nwlc.org\/resource\/women-and-minimum-wage-state-state\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">according to the National Women\u2019s Law Center<\/a>. Women are also severely underrepresented in nearly all levels of today\u2019s politics, only holding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/senators\/ListofWomenSenators.htm\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">26% of Senate seats<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/cawp.rutgers.edu\/facts\/levels-office\/congress\/women-us-house-representatives-2024\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">29.4% of seats in the House of Representatives<\/a> \u2014 and these are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amacad.org\/publication\/daedalus\/womens-underrepresentation-us-congress\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">all-time highs <\/a>for the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite improvements the U.S. has made over the years, women still lag behind men when it comes to economic prospects, executive positions and political representation,\u201d WalletHub analyst Milvionne Chery Copeland said. \u201cOn top of tackling these important issues, the best states for women also ensure that they have access to high-quality health care, receive the same educational opportunities as men, and live in safe communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>WalletHub compared all 50 states and Washington, D.C., across 25 indicators of women\u2019s economic, social and political well-being.<\/p>\n<p>Texas performed especially poorly in several key categories:<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Second worst for women\u2019s economic and social well-being<br \/>\n44th overall for women\u2019s health care and safety<br \/>\nHighest female uninsured rate in the nation<\/p>\n<p>WalletHub found Texas\u2019 female uninsured rate was eight times higher than Massachusetts, which ranked best in that category.<\/p>\n<p>The report also found Texas had the fourth-lowest share of women who voted in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wallethub.com\/edu\/best-and-worst-states-for-women\/10728\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/best-worst-states-for-women.png\" width=\"null\" height=\"null\" alt=\"Best &amp; Worst States for Women\"\/> <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>How does Texas compare nationally?<\/p>\n<p>The bottom 10 states for women in 2026 were:<\/p>\n<p>Louisiana<br \/>\nOklahoma<br \/>\nArkansas<br \/>\nTexas<br \/>\nAlabama<br \/>\nWyoming<br \/>\nSouth Carolina<br \/>\nWest Virginia<br \/>\nMississippi<br \/>\nIdaho<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, the top-ranked states were:<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Massachusetts<br \/>\nDistrict of Columbia<br \/>\nMaine<br \/>\nMinnesota<br \/>\nMaryland<br \/>\nVermont<br \/>\nConnecticut<br \/>\nHawaii<br \/>\nNew York<br \/>\nOregon<\/p>\n<p>WalletHub noted that Democratic-leaning states tended to rank higher overall. The average ranking for blue states was 12, compared to 35.03 for red states.<\/p>\n<p>10 best, worst states for women\u2019s economic, social well-being<\/p>\n<p>RankBestWorst1MaineLouisiana2District of ColumbiaTexas3MarylandOklahoma4MinnesotaArkansas5MassachusettsAlabama6OregonWyoming7VermontSouth Carolina8WisconsinUtah9HawaiiIdaho10IowaFlorida<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>10 best, worst states for women\u2019s health care, safety<\/p>\n<p>RankBestWorst1MassachusettsOklahoma2New YorkArkansas3ConnecticutMississippi4New JerseyWest Virginia5VermontTennessee6MinnesotaAlabama7District of ColumbiaWyoming8HawaiiTexas9Rhode IslandNevada10MarylandGeorgia<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"American actress Trixie Friganza with suffragists, weairng an 'America Suffragettes' sash, escorted by police officers after a women's suffrage rally outside New York City Hall in New York City, Oct. 28 1908. (Photo by Paul Thompson\/FPG\/Archive Photos\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Imag\" loading=\"lazy\"   style=\"aspect-ratio:3 \/ 2\" class=\"x100 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block bg-gray200 mnh0px fill\"\/><\/p>\n<p>American actress Trixie Friganza with suffragists, weairng an &#8216;America Suffragettes&#8217; sash, escorted by police officers after a women&#8217;s suffrage rally outside New York City Hall in New York City, Oct. 28 1908. (Photo by Paul Thompson\/FPG\/Archive Photos\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Imag<\/p>\n<p>Paul Thompson\/FPG\/Hulton Archive via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>When is International Women&#8217;s Day in 2026?<\/p>\n<p>International Women&#8217;s Day is always celebrated on March 8, which falls on a Sunday this year. It was officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, but its origins trace back to labor strikes in the U.S. in 1908 and in Russia in 1917. Today, the global observance celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women while also lobbying for greater gender parity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People participate in the Women&#8217;s March on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Aurora Samperio\/NurPhoto via Getty&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2244,2557,287,27,29,28,511],"class_list":["post-195597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-healthcare","tag-labor","tag-politics","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-wallethub"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}