To paraphrase Charles Dickens: It’s the worst of times, and it’s the best of times for women. Even as they see new legal restrictions on abortion, there is a woman running to become the first female president.
The Dickens reference is from “A Tale of Two Cities,” but WalletHub’s analysis of the best and worst places for women 2024 is a tale of 182 of them in the United States.
“Living in the right city can significantly improve a woman’s economic status, health, and safety,” according to WalletHub analyst Christie Matherne. “The best cities for women offer job security and high pay, enabling women to achieve greater financial independence. They also prioritize safety, provide easily accessible medical care, and have high-quality hospitals, contributing to the best possible physical and mental health for women.”
To determine the best places for women to thrive, the financial website compared 182 U.S. cities — including the 150 most populated, plus additional cities so each state has at least three in the analysis — across two key dimensions: economic and social well-being, and health care and safety.
It then analyzed those dimensions using 15 relevant metrics, each graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for women.
The good news for Georgia is Atlanta finished No. 35, with an overall score of 60.59, likely bouyed by coming in 13th for economic and social well-being. In the health care and safety dimension, however, the city finished a less-than-impressive 84th.
Women living in the ATL can also feel good the city was fifth for median earnings for female workers (adjusted for cost of living).
The Peach State’s other two cities in the analysis did not have such peachy results.
In fact, Augusta ranked fourth worst, at No. 179. With an overall score of just 27.82, the home of the Masters finished No. 177 in the economic and social well-being dimension, and next to last in health care and safety.
The city also finished No. 179 for women’s life expectancy at birth, only one place above Columbus.
Columbus managed to rank a few spots higher than Augusta, coming in at No. 173 with an overall score of 35.21. It was No. 158 in the economic and social well-being dimension, and No. 167 in health care and safety.
Although Columbia Maryland came out on top, your best chances of success might be in California, which claimed five of the top 10 spots. Nos. 2-6 were Fremont, Huntington Beach, Irvine, San Francisco and Santa Clarita, in that order.
“Where to live is a very personal decision, and the choice will vary for each woman based on a wide range of factors (e.g., job, family, affordability),” Miriam Liss, chair of the Department of Psychological Science, College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Mary Washington, told WalletHub.
“One important consideration for women moving to a new community is the availability of opportunities to forge connections with others,” she added. “Are there organizations to join, activities to attend, and public spaces where people can gather? Being socially connected is one of the most important human needs, and everyone should prioritize living in locations where they can maximize social connections.”
Those conditions would lead to the best of times. During the worst of times, “Women continue to face pay inequity, partly driven by the undervaluation of care work. They also perform the majority of unpaid care work, she added. “Women experience gender-based violence, sexual assault, and harassment, as well as limits on their access to reproductive healthcare, which varies widely across U.S. states and globally. Women are underrepresented in key leadership positions worldwide and are more likely to live in poverty than men.”
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