R.I. Among Best Places for Women to Work

Amid the ever-dreary news about the Rhode Island economy, an intriguing finding from Richard Florida, an urban theorist best known for his book The Rise of the Creative Class, and his colleagues at the Martin Prosperity Institute.

Florida, also senior editor at the Atlantic magazine, and his partners Charlotta Mellander and Karen King find Rhode Island is fifth best among the states and the District of Columbia when it comes to places for women to work.

Florida et al. put together a "Women's Earnings Index" based on four metrics: women's share of the labor force, average wage levels for women, women's share of total state wages, and what they call "location premium," defined as "the amount of earnings that can be attributed to working in a specific state after controlling for education, hours worked, and skill."

Top of the list: Washington DC, followed by Maryland, Nevada, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Among the worst: Montana, Utah, Virginia, Idaho, and - worst of all - Wyoming.