Women, girls, and gender-expansive people in Minnesota continue to face persistent inequities, according to the 2026 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in Minnesota, released Tuesday by the Center on Women, Gender, and Public Policy (CWGPP) at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota.
Those disparities are more profound for Black, Indigenous, and women and girls of color, rural women and girls, LGBTQ+ people, and older women. They limit women’s potential, compromise their safety, hinder access to healthcare, and limit leadership opportunities, according to Professor Christina Ewig, director of the CWGPP, who leads the research project.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing gender inequalities," Ewig said. “Understanding how gender, race, place, sexuality, and dis/ability shape life chances and outcomes is key to crafting responses that address the unique disparities faced by different groups.”
The report focuses on four distinct issue areas:
Economics
Minnesota is second in the nation in women’s workforce participation, at 79 percent. Minnesota women also earn the most post-secondary degrees. Despite those trends, Minnesota continues to economically shortchange all groups of women, with Latina, Black, and Indigenous women impacted the most.
Those wage and wealth inequalities persist in part because women remain segregated in lower-paying industries. In addition, unpaid care work – disproportionately performed by women – results in a loss of lifetime earnings and economic opportunities. Minnesota women also struggle to access child care and afford housing.
The wage gap facing all women in Minnesota has barely budged over the past decade. On average, Minnesota women who work full-time all year make 81 cents for every dollar that men make, with important differences when it comes to race and ethnicity. Latina women, for instance, make 63 cents for every dollar and Black women make 61 cents for every dollar.
For women to achieve economic security, the report recommends raising pay in occupations dominated by women, ensuring all workers have access to a living wage, expanding educational opportunities and access to high-paying trades, addressing the affordable housing crisis, and subsidizing high-quality child care as infrastructure for families.
Safety
Women and girls in Minnesota are harmed by gender-based violence across their lifetimes – in their homes, on the streets, and in schools, workplaces, and the criminal justice system. One in three Minnesota women report sexual violence, and one in five report physical violence from a partner in her lifetime. Rates are higher for Native American and Black women, in particular.
Minnesota nonprofits provide important support for survivors, including legal assistance, housing, and advocacy, but are unable to meet the demand for service due to resource limitations and a loss in federal and state funding.
The consequences of violence, whether witnessed or experienced directly, ripple over a lifetime and affect both physical and mental health, often leading to unwanted pregnancy, substance abuse, housing and economic insecurity, and a lack of personal freedom.
Sexuality and gender identity also influence safety. Two-thirds of LGBTQ+ Minnesotans report experiencing anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination or harassment in the past year.
Health
Health inequities for Black, Indigenous, and women and girls+ of color, LGBTQ+ people, and rural women and girls lead to significant differences in health care access, quality, and outcomes in Minnesota. Healthcare costs in Minnesota are a greater barrier for women of color and access has only worsened.
Access to prenatal care is unequal across race and ethnic groups in Minnesota, with Native women reporting the highest rate of inadequate care at 54 percent, followed by Black women at 38 percent. Minnesota’s decline in rural obstetric services outstrips the national average: 45 percent of Minnesota counties lack birth services.
Rural Minnesota has a shortage of healthcare providers in general, particularly in primary and mental health care. Rural hospitals have fewer services available, and a disproportionate number of rural medical facilities have closed.
The report also highlights the role of mental health in overall well-being, with depression a mental health risk for both older and younger women, as well as LGBTQ+ Minnesotans. Only 27 percent of the demand for mental health professionals in Minnesota is met.
Leadership
Minnesota has a long way to go to achieve gender parity in leadership at nearly every level.
Corporate leadership in Minnesota remains dominated by white men. In the C-suite, women’s leadership has not grown since 2022. In 2024, women held 23.7 percent of these offices in the state’s largest publicly traded companies. Only 2.4 percent of executive positions are held by women of color, well behind the national average of 7 percent.
Women hold a greater share of nonprofit and government leadership positions, but men still outnumber women two to one. In politics, the proportion of women in the Minnesota Legislature has fallen slightly to 37 percent from its historic high of 39 percent in 2022. At the local level, men continue to dominate county governments, and women are underrepresented in municipal offices and top school leadership positions.
On average, girls have higher levels of participation in student government and other leadership activities. Overall, 8 percent of teenage boys and 11 percent of teenage girls participate in these activities, with variation by race and ethnicity.
About Status of Women and Girls+ in Minnesota
The report, produced biennially since 2009, is the leading research on women, girls, and gender-expansive communities in the state, reflecting data in the Twin Cities metro area and throughout Minnesota. It uses an intersectional lens to show how inequities impact communities differently. The report reflects the importance of disaggregating the data by gender, race, place, and additional identities like age, LGBTQ+, and disability, to identify systemic barriers and community-specific solutions that benefit all Minnesotans.
