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If strong worker protections are one of your top workplace criteria, you might want to start applying to roles in California.
Oxfam’s 2026 Best States to Work Index, published Sept. 3, evaluated all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico on the strength of their minimum wages, worker protections and rights to organize.
California, Washington, D.C. and New York topped the list due to their robust wages and worker-friendly policies like paid family and medical leave, according to Cameryn Cobb, Ph.D., a social scientist at Oxfam America and a co-author of the study. Each of the three states’ minimum wage is at least double the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.
Those states “have continuously tried to meet the moment and pass policies to make sure that their workers are taken care of, both at work and outside of work,” Cobb says.
State policymakers “can make changes that really impact workers,” according to Cobb, but “people do have power,” too. She points to Utah’s recent repeal of its collective bargaining ban, which she credits to the advocacy of “teachers, firefighters and local people.”
Union support is on the rise among Americans: Nearly half (47%) want U.S. labor unions to have more influence than they do now, which marks a record high in the past 25 years, according to a Gallup survey conducted in Aug. 2026.
Each state’s overall score on Oxfam’s list is comprised of three main categories:
- A wage score (35%), based on its minimum wage and its ratio to the cost of living
- A worker protection score (35%), which evaluates policies like equal pay mandates, paid family and medical leave and protection against sexual harassment
- The right to organize (30%), which is measured by right-to-work laws, rights to organize for public school teachers, protection against retaliation and protections for collective bargaining.
One key worker protection policy that Oxfam added to the list this year is caregiver protection, according to Cobb. With the growth of the “sandwich generation” — people who are simultaneously caring for their elderly relatives and their children — many workers struggle to balance their caregiving duties with their work schedule.
“A lot of times, people can be discriminated against for those caregiving responsibilities,” Cobb says, which is why states like Maine and Minnesota have enacted protections for family caregivers.
“Policies like that make these states stronger, because they are really looking out for the working families that live in their states,” she continues.
Based on Oxfam’s research, these are the top 10 U.S. states with the best wages, policies and protections for workers, based on policies and laws in effect by July 1, 2026.
1. California
Minimum hourly wage: $16.90
Overall score: 80.23
2. District of Columbia
Minimum hourly wage: $18.40
Overall score: 78.74
3. New York
Minimum hourly wage: $16.00
Overall score: 77.78
4. Illinois
Minimum hourly wage: $15.00
Overall score: 73.54
5. Oregon
Minimum hourly wage: $15.55
Overall score: 71.4
6. Washington
Minimum hourly wage: $17.13
Overall score: 67.7
7. Maine
Minimum hourly wage: $15.10
Overall score: 65.86
8. Colorado
Minimum hourly wage: $15.16
Overall score: 65.01
9. Connecticut
Minimum hourly wage: $16.94
Overall score: 64.08
10. Minnesota
Minimum hourly wage: $11.41
Overall score: 63.77
Oxfam’s data demonstrates that “state by state, things are very different for workers,” Cobb says.
“We are in one country, yet if you cross a border, the laws are vastly different in terms of labor,” she says. “It makes a big impact on people’s daily lives and their ability to afford their basic needs or to take care of their loved ones.”
States with strong wages and worker rights and protections also provide a better quality of life for their residents, according to Cobb.
Those states “have less people in poverty. They have less infant mortality. They have a higher GDP per capita,” she says. It shows a positive correlation “between taking care of your workers and their well-being.”
One policy change that could help workers across the country is raising the federal minimum wage, Cobb says. The last time the U.S. government increased the minimum wage was July 2009, when they raised it from $6.55 per hour to $7.25.
A 2021 Pew Research survey found that 62% of Americans supported a $15 federal minimum.
“It’s something that everyone can get behind,” Cobb says.
