WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Finding the perfect city to call home can be challenging, especially for women looking for a safe place to flourish.
A new analysis from WalletHub determined which metro areas in the United States are best for women to thrive and maximize their potential.
The personal finance website compared 182 cities, including 150 of the nation’s most populous, and scored them based on factors that could shape a woman’s quality of life. Experts weighed metrics like job security, poverty, social well-being, safety, suicide rates and healthcare access when ranking each city.
Columbia, Maryland, ranked No. 1 overall on the list. The top city also had the highest median earnings for female workers when considering the cost of living.
But not every city was considered desirable for women and Alabama has at least three such locations.
Mobile ranked ninth among the top 10 worst cities for women. Additionally, the city stood out for having one of the lowest percentages of women-owned businesses in the nation.
That’s not all – Birmingham was ranked 14th worst cities and not far behind at 26th was Montgomery.
Jackson, Mississippi, took the No. 1 spot as the worst city in the nation for women. The analysis also determined that Jackson had one of the highest unemployment rates for women.
Worst cities for women
- Jackson, MS
- Gulfport, MS
- Brownsville, TX
- Huntington, WV
- Shreveport, LA
- Augusta, GA
- Charleston, WV
- Laredo, TX
- Mobile, AL
- New Orleans, LA
The full report, along with a breakdown of the metrics used to rank each city, can be viewed at WalletHub.
