WalletHub recently released its Best & Worst States for Working Moms rankings for 2026, and Texas unfortunately fell into the “worst” category—the ninth worst, to be exact. The WalletHub team took a variety of factors into consideration, including professional opportunities, childcare options, and work-life balance for mothers throughout the US. More specific metrics included things like the cost of childcare, the quality of school systems and daycares, unemployment rates for women, gender wage gaps, parental leave policies, how many families in each state live in poverty, and the amount of hours women worked on average each week.
According to Chip Lupo, an analyst for the company, “The US 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.” He added, “However, some states are significantly better than others. 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.” Texas did see some similarities in terms of median salaries for working mothers compared to the national average, but it generally ranked poorly across several other categories.
It’s a stark reminder of just how far the US has to go to establish better working conditions for moms, and for females in general. A 2026 Gender Pay Gap Report noted that women still only make about 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. Some states are better at closing this gap than others, like Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, which ranked as the Top 3 on WalletHub’s report. Lupo said these states, along with the others rounding out the Top 10, offer high quality healthcare and childcare, strong school systems, career advancement, equitable pay, and generous parental leave.
Here’s what contributed to Texas’ poor ranking
Texas ranked poorly on WalletHub’s 2026 Best & Worst States for Working Moms report across many of the company’s core categories. The Lone Star State was considered the ninth worst overall because of the length of a woman’s average work week, the ratio of female to male executives, the quality of work-life balance, and the female unemployment rate. To break it down even further, WalletHub ranked every state in each category by listing them from best to worst, with No. 1 obviously being the best and No. 25 being average.
This is where Texas landed:
- No. 26 for pediatricians per capita
- No. 26 for childcare costs (which was adjusted in accordance with the median female salary in the state)
- No. 27 for parental leave policies
- No. 33 for quality of daycares
- No. 35 for the gender pay gap (AKA how much women earn compared to men)
- No. 38 for the percentage of single-mother households who live in poverty
It’s a grim reminder of the stark reality women currently face in Texas. Previously, WalletHub noted that it’s the fourth worst state overall for women socially and economically speaking. In that study, Texas ranked poorly in the “women’s health care and safety” category, as well as the “friendliness toward working moms” one. Which is further exemplified in this new study that shows just exactly how unfriendly Texas is toward women who are trying to raise their children and hold down a job at the same time.
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Related: Op-Ed: A third of parents putting career plans on hold due to cost of childcare — even in Texas
