Oxfam’s 2026 index highlights how labor policy is key to addressing our growing affordability crisis, and how states can help fill the gaps in regressive federal policy.
Ahead of Labor Day, Oxfam, the global organization fighting inequality to end poverty and injustice, released the ninth edition of its Best States to Work Index (BSWI), a robust database and interactive map that measure policies supporting working families in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This year, California earned the top spot in the index as the “best” state for workers, followed closely by the District of Columbia (#2), New York (#3), Illinois (#4), and Oregon (#5). By contrast, North Carolina remains at the bottom of the index as the “worst” state for workers for the seventh year in a row, followed by Alabama (#51), Mississippi (#50), Tennessee (#49), and South Carolina (#48).
Oxfam’s index comes as the cost of living is skyrocketing and economic inequality is reaching new heights in the modern era. Overlapping economic shocks, like those recently resulting from the U.S. war against Iran, are driving up prices and squeezing working families. The Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act marked a historic upward transfer of wealth away from low-income families. Federal labor policy is growing increasingly anti-worker in nature, with the Trump administration rolling back worker protections and decimating the federal agencies charged with enforcing workplace rights. Workers across the country are left struggling to afford basic necessities like groceries, housing, and healthcare while billionaire fortunes are exploding.
“Working families are facing extraordinary economic hardship in 2026, and their struggles are compounded by the Trump administration’s attacks on worker protections. These policy rollbacks do not fall on communities equally and are especially harmful to women, workers of color, immigrant workers, low-wage workers, and other marginalized communities already grappling with discrimination and economic insecurity,” said Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America. “The fact is, your zip code should not dictate whether you are protected and supported on the job, or whether you can legally be paid a poverty wage. All workers deserve robust protections that ensure they can thrive and lead dignified lives, no matter where they live.”
For the most part, state rankings have not changed drastically from the 2025 index, underscoring the importance of federal policy change to move the needle for all workers. But as the cost of living continues to rise, federal policy is failing to keep up. For example, the federal minimum has been stuck at $7.25 — a poverty wage — for 17 years, and when adjusted for inflation, the value is the lowest it’s been in over 75 years, having declined around 30% since it was last raised in 2009. Over the same period, the wealth of the 10 richest U.S. billionaires increased by around 700% in real terms. While most states have raised their own minimums, even the highest state minimum wage in the U.S. is still not enough to support a working family: in the District of Columbia, $18.40 only covers 43% of the cost of living for a family of four.
The BSWI tracks 37 policies across three dimensions — wages, worker protections, and rights to organize — that seek to capture which states have laws on the books that fill the gaps left by federal inaction to support low-wage workers and working families. Notably, some states are stepping up to meet the evolving needs of workers, and Oxfam has updated its index to capture these shifts in labor policy. The 2026 index includes 10 new policies emerging at the state level, including anti-discrimination laws for caregivers, sectoral bargaining rights for rideshare drivers, and “bossware” laws that protect workers’ rights against digital workplace surveillance and algorithmic decision-making.
Oxfam’s research also shows a strong correlation between states that perform well in the BSWI and key measures of well-being, including lower poverty and food insecurity, reduced infant mortality, higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and median household incomes, and stronger unionization rates.
Together with the BSWI, Oxfam also released the sixth edition of the Best States for Working Women (BSWW), which ranks states based on policies that either directly or disproportionately support women workers, such as equal pay, flexible scheduling, and paid leave. In this index, New York is the “best” state for working women, followed by District of Columbia (#2), California (#3), Oregon (#4), and Illinois (#5).
The Best States to Work Index is meant to inspire a race to the top among states that want to support workers and working families. Workers need more robust protections at both the state and federal levels. Oxfam recommends a suite of urgent policy initiatives to help support workers and their families, including:
Raise Wages: Policymakers must raise the minimum wage, eliminate subminimum wages (including for tipped workers, youth, and workers with disabilities), and end minimum wage exclusions. Policymakers should ensure that the minimum wage keeps up with the cost of living, including by tying automatic wage increases to inflation.
Strengthen Worker Protections: We need stronger worker protections at the state and federal levels, including paid family and medical leave, strengthened equal pay laws and sexual harassment protections, paid pumping breaks, protections against bossware, and protections for caregivers and domestic workers.
Protected Rights to Organize: The federal government must strengthen workers’ rights to build power collectively. Policymakers should end all exclusions from the rights to organize and collectively bargain, and they should enable sectoral bargaining alongside workplace-level collective bargaining. States must repeal “right-to-work” laws, which undermine worker power.
Oxfam is a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice. We offer lifesaving support in times of crisis and advocate for economic justice, gender equality, and climate action. We demand equal rights and equal treatment so that everyone can thrive, not just survive. The future is equal. Join us at oxfamamerica.org.
/ENDS
Notes to editors:
Download “Best States to Work in the U.S. 2026.”
Explore the BSWI 2026 interactive map and state scorecards here.
Explore the “Best States for Working Women” interactive map here.
Billionaire wealth data is from the annual Forbes billionaire list. We compared the total wealth of the 10 richest U.S. billionaires in 2009 with the total wealth of the 10 richest U.S. billionaires in 2026. Forbes annual billionaire lists are based on a snapshot of wealth in February of the corresponding year.
To adjust for inflation, we used the chained CPI-U. Billionaire wealth was inflation adjusted to February 2026 prices from February 2009. Minimum wage values were adjusted to February 2026 prices from July 2009, the last time the federal minimum wage was increased. The comparison is intended to illustrate the diverging economic trajectories of the federal wage floor and wealth at the very top, while recognizing that minimum wages and billionaire wealth are not directly equivalent economic measures.