Here’s How Washington Ranks For Workers

SEATTLE, WA — Washington is one of the top three best states for workers in the United States, according to a new index calculated by Oxfam America.

Oxfam’s “Best States To Work Index” looks at a number of factors to rank states and the District of Columbia from the highest to the lowest. The rankings take into account 11 policy areas and the three major policy areas Oxfam considers in the rankings are wage policies, worker protection policies and right to organize policies.

In its introduction, Oxfam writes that historically, it’s the federal government that has passed laws to protect workers. However, with policies on the federal level at a standstill, state governments have passed laws — like raising the minimum wage — that benefit workers.

“These state laws can make a huge difference in compensation and conditions on the job, and can play a large role in quality of life for working families,” Oxfam writes.

Despite some states having a higher minimum wage than the federal standard, no state’s wage matched up to a living wage for a family of four that has one earner, according to Oxfam.

Here’s how Washington score in the index:

Overall ranking: 89.36 (out of 100), No. 3 in the U.S.
Wage score: 97.24
Worker protection score: 70.83
Right to organize score: 100

Although Washington was No. 3 overall, that's lower than last year when the state was ranked No. 2.

Oxfam found that states with higher rankings also had a higher life expectancy and a higher GDP per capita among other social and economic factors.

The report credits a number of states for rising in the rankings compared to a year ago due to the repeal of so-called “right to work” laws — which allow workers not to join labor unions — and raises in the minimum wage. Missouri jumped 11 points in the rankings to no. 26 because of the repeal of its “right to work” law and thanks to citizens at the ballot box voting to increase the minimum wage. Arkansas rose in the wage rankings because of a minimum wage increase and West Virginia improved overall because of the striking down of its “right to work” law.

Virginia, which ranked at the very bottom, saw no increase in its score from last year. Oxfam writes that the other states at the bottom of the index had few changes in policies and did not rise in the rankings while seeing some increases in scores.

The top 10 states for workers in 2019 are:

1. D.C.
2. California
3. Washington
4. Massachusetts
5. Maine
6. Oregon
7. Rhode Island
8. Vermont
9. Connecticut
10. Minnesota

The 10 states at the bottom of the index are:

Virginia (51)
Mississippi (50)
Alabama (49)
Georgia (48)
South Carolina (47)
North Carolina (46)
Idaho (45)
North Dakota (44)
Tennessee (43)
Louisiana (42)

Read the full Oxfam report here.