About the U.S. WPS Index

The US WPS Index captures key aspects of women’s status at home, in the community, and in the economy and society. The index is structured around three basic dimensions: inclusion (economic, social, political); justice (formal laws and informal discrimination); and security (at the individual and community levels). The index and its 12 indicators, grouped into these three dimensions, provide a standardized, quantitative, and transparent measure for ranking all states.

Our new and comprehensive measure of women’s well-being, rights, and opportunities in the United States reveals vast differences across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. There is an enormous range in performance, from Massachusetts at the top (.709) to Louisiana at the bottom (.167), on a 0–1 scale.