Cities with Limited Abortion Access Among Worst Places for Women to Live

The best and worst cities to live in for women may not be where you expect.

A new ranking by WalletHub revealed the best city for women to live in is Columbia, Maryland, just 30 miles outside of Washington, D.C.

The new ranking analyzed women's experiences across economic, social and health criteria in the top 182 cities across the country.

The top cities tended to be in liberal areas outside of large cities, while the worst were in high-crime Southern cities.

The top three of the ranking included Columbia; South Burlington, Vermont; and Irvine, California. In comparison, women in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama dealt with the most significant barriers in their everyday lives.

Women's Employment

The top cities ranked highest in terms of median earnings and lowest in terms of metrics like women's unemployment, WalletHub said.

"Since the gender pay gap tends to widen with age, putting down roots in a city with better earnings potential can set a woman up for more financial success in the future," the survey said.

"Some locations are better poised to handle women's health and safety concerns as well, such as access to abortion and other women's health services."

In the top city, Columbia, Maryland, women's economic and social well-being scored 6, while women's health care and safety came in at 14. But it did boast the highest median earnings for women across all the cities analyzed when accounting for cost of living.

Meanwhile, salaries were lowest for women in Santa Ana, California.

Some Southern cities saw high ratings for women's overall economic and social well-being, but health care and safety stalled, bringing them to a lower overall ranking. In comparison, Northern cities like Yonkers, New York, had top ratings for health care and safety but unsatisfactory economic and social well-being scores.

The top 10 cities, according to WalletHub, were as follows:

1. Columbia, Maryland
2. South Burlington, Vermont
3. Irvine, California
4. Fremont, California
5. Santa Clarita, California
6. Seattle, Washington
7. Gilbert, Arizona
8. Overland Park, Kansas
9. Yonkers, New York
10. Pearl City, Hawaii

Meanwhile, the bottom 10 were relatively concentrated in more rural, Southern areas:

1. Jackson, Mississippi
2. Gulfport, Mississippi
3. Brownsville, Texas
4. Huntington, West Virginia
5. Shreveport, Louisiana
6. Augusta, Georgia
7. Charleston, West Virginia
8. Laredo, Texas
9. Mobile, Alabama
10. New Orleans, Louisiana

Abortion Health Care in the South

One significant part of the rankings included metrics on women's overall health care within the cities they live.

As abortion clinics become few and far between even in the most liberal of Southern, women's access to a full range of health care has been limited. The women who do end up getting abortions often have to deal with several hours or even days of travel and long lines as healthcare workers are stretched to meet the demand for services.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, Louisiana stopped offering abortions at its few remaining clinics. Since Louisiana's trigger law banning most abortions and criminalizing performing an abortion went into effect, healthcare providers were not allowed to offer the service, even in cases of rape or incest.

Similarly, in Mississippi, where two cities scored the worst for women's standards of living, the state certified its trigger law shortly after Roe v Wade was overturned.

"In about a week and a half, you'll have zero abortions taking place at the clinic in Jackson, or in hospitals or any place else, except to save the life of the mother, or if it's proven, and not just an allegation, of a rape or an incest," said Republican Mississippi Senator Joey Fillingane when the law was set to go into effect.

The laws criminalizing abortion have received significant pushback from activists, doctors and other lawmakers alike.

"Mississippi is a prime example of what's going to happen to the women of this country," Diane Derzis, owner of the Jackson Women's Health Organization, said, as reported by the Associated Press. "Those who have the means will be able to fly to New York. The poor women and women of color will be desperately trying to find the closest clinic."

Texas, which also scored at the bottom end, also has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country.

Legislation says that all abortion procedures are illegal unless necessary to save the life of the mother.

West Virginia's laws reflect a similar trend among the other conservative states that were ranked lowest for women.

Last year, Governor Jim Justice passed a law that abolishes abortion except in specific medical situations or cases of rape or incest.

At the time the bill was signed in September 2022, Justice said he was "proud that I signed it and I believe wholeheartedly that it does one thing that is absolutely so important—it does protect life."

There are other considerations that women must make if they do have the choice of where to live, of course, including employment and education opportunities.

The majority of Americans aren't fortunate enough to choose their city, with most living close to their family or job. Still, there can be serious ramifications to where you choose to plant roots, said Diane Halpern, a professor of psychology at Minerva University.

"If the woman is married or in a serious long-term relationship, employment for her spouse is also critical when deciding where to live," Halpern said in the study. "It is difficult for many people to buy a house in a neighborhood with good schools on a single salary, so coordinating job offers is an important variable."

Nationwide, only 22 out of 250 metro areas in the US see women under 30 earning the same amount as or more than their male peers. And across the country, women still only earn 82 cents for every dollar a man makes.