Texas is the Ninth-Worst state for working moms in 2026, according to a new WalletHub study. The study compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 17 key metrics ranging from day-care quality to the median salary for women to parental leave policies.
“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. However, some states are significantly better than others,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “The best states for working moms provide equitable pay for women and a strong potential for career advancement, along with robust parental leave policies and high-quality child care, health care, and schools.”
In-Depth Look at Texas
Several different factors determine how good a state is for working moms, and Texas performs better in some areas than others. It ranks:
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- 32nd for child care
- 38th for professional opportunities
- 48th for work-life balance
- 43rd overall
Texas excels when it comes to the percentage of child care centers that are nationally accredited, ranking 18th in the nation. This demonstrates that the state takes child care seriously. In addition, Texas has the 19th-lowest gender representation gap in the real estate, rental and leasing industry.
Unfortunately, Texas needs to make more progress when it comes to gender equality in executive- and senior-level positions, where it only ranks 46th in the country. It's also in 47th place for the average commute time for women.
Best and Worst States for Working Moms
Women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, and in 2024 about 74% 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 about 82% of what men make per hour, and just 9.4% of chief executives at S&P 500 companies are women. Some states address these disparities much better than others, though.
Overall Rank | State | Total Score | Child Care Rank | Professional Opportunities Rank | Work-Life Balance Rank |
1 | Massachusetts | 72.37 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
2 | Connecticut | 66.29 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
3 | Rhode Island | 63.82 | 7 | 19 | 2 |
4 | District of Columbia | 63.58 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
5 | Maine | 62.31 | 2 | 9 | 13 |
6 | Minnesota | 58.03 | 6 | 7 | 16 |
7 | Vermont | 57.86 | 18 | 5 | 9 |
8 | Wisconsin | 56.38 | 14 | 16 | 10 |
9 | New Jersey | 56.26 | 13 | 34 | 8 |
10 | New York | 54.41 | 10 | 37 | 11 |
The methodology can be found on the full version of the article on WalletHub.
