SC is one of the worst states for working moms, new study shows. Here’s where it ranks & why

Women make up nearly half the workforce in the U.S., and yet they still face significant challenges. This is even more true for working moms, who make up around 74% of the workforce.

On average, women make 82% of what men make per hour, and only 9.4% of chief executives at S&P 500 companies are women. On top of that, working moms have to deal with child care, work-life balance and career building while supporting a child.

However, life for working moms isn’t the same in each state. Some states have policies that protect working moms more than others and have strong support systems, such as public schools and child care.

WalletHub, a personal finance website, released its 2026 Best & Worst States for Working Moms study, to highlight where working mothers have the best and worst opportunities in the U.S.

“The U.S. 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,” said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst, in a news release. “However, some states are significantly better than others.”

To compare every state and the District of Columbia, they used three key dimensions: Child care, professional opportunities and work-life balance. Each dimension was graded using the following metrics:

Child Care metrics

• Day-care quality
• Child-care costs
• Pediatricians per capita
• School-system quality
• Share of nationally accredited child care centers
• Number of Childcare workers per total number of children

Professional Opportunities metrics

• Gender pay gap
• Ratio of female executives to male executives
• Median women’s salary
• Share of working women living with economic security
• Share of families in poverty
• Female unemployment rate
• Gender-representation gap in different economic sectors
• WalletHub “Best States for Working from Home” ranking

Work-Life Balance metrics

• Parental-leave policy score
• Average length of a woman’s work week
• Women’s average commute time

Here’s where SC fared using these metrics:

SC ranked the 7th worst state for working moms

SC has some work cut out for it to improve conditions for its working mothers.

The Palmetto State is ranked the 7th-worst state in the nation, and for good reason. Out of the nation’s 50 states and the District of Columbia, SC ranked 45th for child care, 42nd for professional opportunities, and 45th for work-life balance.

Here’s how SC fared in the other relevant metrics WalletHub used in its study (1=Best; 25=Average):

Source: WalletHub

• 45^th – Day-Care Quality
• 38^th – Pediatricians per Capita
• 26^th – Gender Pay Gap (Women’s Earnings as % of Men’s)
• 47^th – Ratio of Female Executives to Male Executives
• 37^th – Median Women’s Salary (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
• 46^th – Female Unemployment Rate
• 38^th – Parental-Leave Policy Score
• 32^nd – Avg. Length of Woman’s Work Week (in Hours)
• 42^nd – % of Single-Mom Families in Poverty