Child care costly here, study says

Florida has the highest child care costs of any state — a 27 percent share of womens’ median salary, personal finance website WalletHub noted.

Child care costs $18,430 in Florida, from the time of infancy to school-age care, according to data by Child Care Aware of America published by The Boston Globe.

Overall, Florida is the 12th-worst state for working moms, according to WalletHub’s study released Tuesday, just before Mother’s Day weekend.

WalletHub compared the 50 states and District of Columbia across three dimensions: child care, professional opportunities and work-life balance.

States were measured on metrics including day care quality, child care costs, gender pay gap, median women’s salary, parental leave policy and percentage of single-mom families in poverty.

The top 10 best states for working mothers are, in order: Vermont, Minnesota, Connecticut, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Illinois,

Wisconsin, Colorado, Kansas and New Jersey.

The top 10 worst states for working mothers are, in order: New Mexico, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Arizona, Alaska, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama and Nevada.

WalletHub also reported:

New York has the highest day care quality score.

The District of Columbia has the most pediatricians per 100,000 residents: 48.92.

The District of Columbia has the highest percentage of female executives: 65.43 percent.

Maryland has the lowest percentage of single-mom families with children younger than 18 in poverty: 26.1 percent.

Virginia has the highest median women’s salary, adjusted for cost of living: $45,452.

North Dakota has the lowest female unemployment rate: 2.8 percent.

For the full list, go to wallethub.com/edu/ best-states-forworking-moms/3565/