Best & Worst States for Working Moms (2026)
WalletHub said the ranking weighs 17 metrics, including day-care quality, women’s wages and parental leave policies.
- WalletHub ranked New Jersey as the fourth-best state for working moms in 2026, driven by the state's third-best school systems and strong support for professional opportunities.
- Researchers compared fifty states and the District of Columbia across 17 key metrics ranging from day-care quality to median female salary to parental leave policies, evaluating comprehensive support for working mothers.
- Minnesota secured the seventh-best position in the rankings, while Pennsylvania placed twenty-first, reflecting diverse state-level approaches to child care access, professional opportunities, and work-life balance policies.
- Alabama ranked second-worst for working moms, with Arizona sixth-worst and Texas ninth-worst, highlighting significant regional disparities in child care quality and support systems available to mothers.
- Nationwide, working mothers continue facing systemic challenges balancing career advancement with child care, as legal protections and public support systems vary significantly between states, underscoring the need for policy reform.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Whitmer’s Legacy: Michigan falls to 36th best state for working moms
Michigan isn’t the best place for working moms, and things have only gotten worse under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “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,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “However, some states are significantly better than others. The best states for working moms provide equitable pa…
The Billings Gazette
Best & Worst States for Working Moms (2026)
Women make upnearly halfof the U.S. workforce, and in 2025 about74%of moms with children under age 18 were employed. Despite their strong presence in the labor market, working mothers still face significant challenges. On average, women earn only about82%of what…
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