2021’s best & worst states for working dads

Reprinted with permission from WalletHub

Fatherhood is a responsibility that changes over time. Back in 1960, 75% of American families relied on a single income, that of the dad, who spent much of his week at work while mom stayed home with the kids. Now, 69.2% of married mothers work, and while that’s still quite a bit lower than the 93.3% of married fathers who do, the gap is closing.

The contemporary dad no longer fits neatly into the standard of the married breadwinner and disciplinarian. That’s been especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, where many fathers have been working from home and have taken on more childcare duties as a result.

Not all working dads are in the same situation, though. Those who live in states with greater economic opportunity and quality of life have it better than others.

In order to determine the best states for men who play a dual role of parent and provider, WalletHub compared the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia across 23 key indicators of friendliness toward working fathers. Our data set ranges from the average length of the workday for males to child-care costs to the share of men in good or better health.

Best States for Working Dads

 

Overall Rank	State	Total Score	Economic & Social Well-Being	Work-Life Balance	Child Care	Health
1	Massachusetts	72.99	3	1	1	2
2	District of Columbia	68.06	2	3	6	10
3	Minnesota	63.51	1	17	2	1
4	New Jersey	63.21	6	10	5	16
5	Connecticut	62.79	4	12	7	4
6	Rhode Island	60.70	27	2	16	6
7	Vermont	59.63	28	7	4	9
8	New York	57.88	37	8	3	5
9	Wisconsin	57.36	10	13	15	15
10	North Dakota	56.82	9	20	10	12
11	Washington	55.44	23	4	32	13
12	Illinois	55.36	15	19	11	22
13	Hawaii	54.25	45	5	17	3
14	Maryland	54.01	12	28	14	14
15	New Hampshire	54.00	5	49	8	17
16	Iowa	53.85	11	18	25	8
17	Virginia	53.69	7	40	9	20
18	Nebraska	48.87	14	39	29	18
19	Delaware	48.67	24	36	13	24
20	Maine	48.47	35	11	27	33
21	Kansas	48.23	18	23	31	28
22	Missouri	48.22	16	26	23	40
23	Ohio	47.93	8	27	37	35
24	Pennsylvania	47.67	13	37	34	25
25	Montana	46.87	36	16	22	23
26	South Dakota	46.85	19	48	20	21
27	Colorado	46.77	21	38	24	11
28	Indiana	46.66	22	35	18	38
29	Michigan	46.03	17	32	36	29
30	Utah	46.01	25	29	28	19
31	Kentucky	45.24	31	22	19	44
32	Tennessee	44.36	26	42	12	45
33	Wyoming	44.18	20	47	21	34
34	Oregon	44.10	48	9	38	27
35	California	41.48	50	6	50	7
36	Alaska	40.77	38	15	44	31
37	North Carolina	40.50	30	45	33	32
38	Texas	39.36	29	50	30	39
39	Florida	39.29	46	33	26	36
40	Georgia	37.31	33	51	35	41
41	Arizona	37.15	47	24	41	30
42	Arkansas	36.93	41	21	45	46
43	Oklahoma	35.44	40	31	40	49
44	Idaho	35.14	42	25	51	26
45	South Carolina	34.75	39	46	43	42
46	Alabama	34.44	34	44	46	47
47	West Virginia	33.60	44	34	42	50
48	Mississippi	33.58	43	41	39	51
49	Louisiana	32.94	32	43	49	48
50	New Mexico	32.19	51	14	47	43
51	Nevada	31.70	49	30	48	37

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.