Women seeking election to the U.S. House are best off running in Western states, which have historically chosen more female representatives than the rest of the country.

Eric Ostermeier at Smart Politics found that women have won House seats from the 13 Western states more than 11% of the time over the last century. The national average is only 5.4%, with the Northeast (5.2%), the Midwest (4.4%) and the South (3.7%) all way behind the West.

Women did particularly well in last year’s election. A total of 20 now serve in the U.S. Senate (an all-time high), while the House also reached a new high mark with 17.9% female representation.

Despite this success, there are still six states that have yet to elect a woman to the House of Representatives: Iowa, Mississippi, Delaware, Alaska, North Dakota and Vermont.

Internationally, the United States still ranks in only 77th place in terms of the percentage of women in its national legislature.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Western Women: Regional Gender Disparities in Congressional Representation (by Eric Ostermeier, Smart Politics)

New Hampshire First State to Elect All-Female Congressional Delegation (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

North Dakota Elects First Woman to Congress (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)