Via Shutterstock

Apparently, women in Maryland mean business. The Old Line State is stacked with women who earn competitive salaries compared to men, according to research by Bloomberg, which ranked Maryland as the most gender-equal state in the country.

Vermont, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Hawaii rounded out the top five. Virginia landed at number 13.

Bloomberg’s benchmarks for the study included female-to male pay ratio, female labor force participation, college degree attainment, health insurance coverage, and poverty.

Women tend to thrive in states with a lot of white-collar industries, Heidi Hartmann, of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, told Bloomberg. So Maryland’s proximity to the District and other state capitals puts it at an advantage, Hartmann said.

Photo courtesy of Bloomberg

Bloomberg also collected information to find which state has the most boss ladies in the country. This data was measured by business ownership, lawmaking, advanced-degree holders, high salaries and executive positions in business and government.

As it turns out, women bring in one-third of Maryland’s six-figure paychecks and have the second-highest number of women with advanced degrees, which pushed the state to the top spot on Bloomberg’s leadership equality index as well.

Washington state ranked second on the leadership front, followed by Colorado, Oregon, and New York. Again, Virginia came in at number 13.

Photo courtesy of Bloomberg

While D.C. was not included in the study, the American Association of University Women has found that the District has the lowest gender wage gap when compared to states. The report gives figures for 2014, in which women in D.C. earned 89.5 percent of men’s median earnings in the city, in comparison to the national average of 79 percent.