MS among worst states to work in 2025, new ranking says. Here’s where it ranks & why
Mississippi is one of the worst states for working families in 2025 and lacks several worker protections other states have, according to an August ranking.
Researchers at Oxfam — a global organization working to fight inequality and end poverty and injustice — scored each state plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. based on state policies in the following categories: wages, weighted at 40%, worker protections, weighted at 35% and rights to organize, weighted at 25%.
In the wage policy category, researchers said they asked questions related to if workers earned enough money to provide for them and their families.
Questions about workers’ quality of life were considered for the worker protection policies category and questions about workers organizing and bargaining as a group were asked in the right to organize category, researchers said.
Here’s what you should know about Mississippi’s ranking.
Why was MS ranked among the worst states to work in?
Mississippi is the second-worst state to work, according to Oxfam’s ranking.
The state earned an overall score of 9.09, about three points higher than North Carolina, which was ranked as the worst state to work in, researchers said.
In the worker protection policies category, the state only met the criteria in the child labor protections category, according to the ranking.
Here’s how Mississippi ranked in each category:
- Wage policies: #44
- Worker protections #52
- Rights to organize #42
The state ranked last in worker protection policies, and only met the criteria in the child labor protections category, researchers said.
Where are the worst states to work in?
These are the 10 worst locations in the U.S. to work from and their scores, according to the ranking:
#1 North Carolina, 5.83
#2 Mississippi 9.09
#3 Alabama 9.41
#4 Georgia, 10.60
#5 Tennessee, 12.14
#6 South Carolina, 12.50
#7 Utah, 14.11
#8 Texas, 15.14
#9 Wyoming, 19.50
#10 Louisiana, 19.50
Where are the best states to work in?
These are the top five best places to work from in the U.S., according to the ranking:
#1 Washington, D.C.
#2 California
#3 Oregon
#4 New York
#5 Washington
