Nevada Is Tough On Women, Study Shows

NEVADA - Nevada has a long way to go until it can consider itself a friendly state for women. A recent news piece from the Wall Street Journal detailed allegations of sexual harassment from Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn, one of the state's most powerful men. Another from The Nevada Independent detailed misconduct - varying in nature - within the state legislature.

Now, a WalletHub study released during National Women's History Month ranked Nevada as the 44th best place in the country for women to live. In other words, of the 50 states and District of Columbia, Nevada is the 8th worst place in America.

The five best states for women to live are Minnesota, Massachusetts, Vermont, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

In its study, 2018’s Best & Worst States for Women, WalletHub looked at data ranging from women’s earnings, the percentage of women-owned businesses and unemployment rates to preventative health care, female homicide rates, and the incidence of rape and stalking.

Nevada ranked 39th for women's economic and social well-being, and ranked 50th in women's health and safety. The study also depicted the state's education struggles; Nevada had the lowest rate of women graduating high school in the entire country. Nevada was also 49th for the number of women with insurance and was tied for the highest female homicide rate.

Some other findings:

• The District of Columbia, home to the U.S. Capitol, ranked 15th as the best place for women to live. When adjusted for inflation, women there had the highest median wage of $32,355, compared to $16,843 in Hawaii, which had the lowest rate.
• D.C. women were also much more politically involved than women in Hawaii, voting in the 2016 presidential election at a rate of 77.2 percent, 1.6 times higher than in Hawaii, where only 49.3 percent of women voted.
• New Hampshire had the lowest share of women living in poverty — only 9.4 percent, which was 2.6 times lower than in Mississippi, which finished 51st in that ranking. Nearly one-fourth of Mississippi women live in poverty.
• Alaska is a good place for women who want to own their own businesses. It had the highest share of women-owned businesses at 22.87 percent, which was 1.6 times higher than in South Dakota, where only 14.04 percent
• Most women in Massachusetts have health insurance with an uninsured rate of 2.4 percent, which is 7.7 times lower than Texas, which finished dead last with an uninsured rate of 18.5 percent for women.

The ranking used data from the federal Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Center for Educational Statistics, as well as the Council for Community and Economic Research, U.S. News and World Report, Institute for Health Metrics and its own research. Read more about the methodology.

Image via David McNew/Getty Images. Patch reporter Beth Dalbey contributed to this report.