Vermont'shigh scores in five categories — median pay ratio by gender, femalelabor-force participation, college-degree attainment, healthcoverage and women in poverty — are related to the state'sprogressive gender politics.

Vermont was one of the first states to grant women partialvoting rights, and nearly 140 years later, it remains a leader inequal opportunity for women. For the thirdyear, the state tops Bloomberg's annual ranking of the best statesfor gender parity, followed by Minnesota and Maryland.

Vermont's high scores in five categories — median pay ratio by gender, female labor-forceparticipation, college-degree attainment, health coverage and womenin poverty — are related to the state's progressive genderpolitics, according to University of Vermont economics professorStephanie Seguino.

Related: Men, women don't see eye to eye on gender issues inthe workplace

In 2016, the state passed a law requiring most employers toprovide paid sick leave to employees, legislation that's consideredparticularly friendly to working women. Lawmakers are alsodiscussing a parental leave law which would allow dads to take paidtime off, a benefit only a handful of states currently confer.

Almost 80 percent of female Vermonters work, and only 4 percentare without health coverage, among the best states in bothcategories, according to 2017 U.S. Census data. At the other end ofthe spectrum, 63 percent of the women participate in the laborforce in West Virginia (No. 45 overall). In No. 44 Texas, nearly 17percent lack health insurance. relates to Ranking the U.S. Statesby Gender Equality

To access the Bloomberg News 2019 Gender Equality full data setfor all 50 states and the District of Columbia, click HERE.

Second to Vermont, Minnesota stood out for high rates of healthcoverage and low poverty rate. One of Minnesota's largest employersis the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, an advantage for women, who makeup 75 percent of health-care practitioners. Relative to otherindustries, female workforce participation in the health-careindustry is particularly high, according to Iris Bohnet, aneconomist and professor at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Ranked third on the gender parity index, Maryland topped aseparate 50-state ranking of women on leadership metrics for thefourth year. Washington and Virginia moved up three and nine spots,to round out the top three respectively, this year.

Maryland and Virginia's proximity to the nation's capitalprovides both states with access to a high concentration ofeducated, well-paid professionals who work and live near D.C. Thishelp explains why they ranked high across the five leadership indexmetrics: share of female business owners, women in statelegislatures, advanced-degree attainment, six-figure compensationand percentage of women executives.

To access the Bloomberg News2019 Leadership for Women full data set for all 50 states and theDistrict of Columbia, click HERE.

Of course, there are women thriving everywhere. These rankings,based on five metrics each, offer one measure of gender equality.Vermont's Seguino pointed out that women in the state aren't exemptfrom the struggles women face nationwide.

“People think things are fine, but the reality is that thingsaren't,” Seguino said. “Single mothers struggle enormously inVermont. Women continue to experience wage discrimination evenwithin the same occupation.”

Additionally, some metrics used in the index only measure howwomen are doing relative to men. A state could get high marks for asmall gender-pay gap, Bohnet pointed out, but if everyone's paidpoorly — if equally so — that's not good for anyone, male orfemale.

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