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Louisiana has the second largest wage gap in the country.
The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau show the typical woman working full time, year round in Louisiana was paid only 69 cents for every dollar paid to her male counterpart.
"Louisiana is second only to Wyoming in terms of having the worst wage gap," says Liz Watson, with the National Women's Law Center.
"In Louisiana, the average wage for men is fairly decent at $46-thousand, where you see the average wage for women at $31-thousand."
Watson says that indicates that there are good jobs to be had in Louisiana, but women aren't getting them.
She says occupational choices, and difference in work experience can explain some of that. But about 40 percent is unexplained, meaning it's likely plain old discrimination.
"Women are, probably, predominantly going into much lower-paying jobs than men are going into," Watson says. "Discrimination plays a role and time out of the workplace plays a role."
"The wage gap in Louisiana is much greater than the average gap across the rest of the country," says Watson. "Well below the national average of 77 cents."
Wyoming had the largest wage gap at 66.6 cents. The other eight states with the largest wage gaps were Utah, West Virginia, North Dakota, Mississippi, Michigan, Alabama, Montana, and Idaho.
Washington, D.C., had the smallest wage gap at 90.4 cents. The nine other states with the smallest wage gaps were: Vermont, Maryland, California, Nevada, Rhode Island, Arizona, New York, Florida, and Arkansas.
Louisiana was also among the 10 states with the highest percentages of women aged 18-64 without health insurance coverage. 24.3% of women in Louisiana did not have insurance coverage, which is higher than the overall national rate of uninsured women 19.6%.
