Gender gaps in pay: Worst and best states

Women are paid less than men nationwide

By Rich_Maloof Dec 13, 2012 5:02PM

When it comes to pay equality between genders, America has come a long way but still has far to go.

Women’s annual earnings currently run at a national median of 77 percent of men’s earnings for full-time, year-round workers. That’s a nice bump up from the 60 percent gap of the early 1970s, when “women’s lib” was gaining steam, but progress has slowed in recent years. In fact, it’s barely budged in a decade.

All of these gender gap stats and more come courtesy of a census-based report by the American Association of University Women. AAUW notes that in typical married households, women’s incomes account for 36 percent of total family income (as of 2008). About one third of employed mothers provide the sole source of income for their families.

More from Daily Dose: Top Tweets of 2012

While that’s a point of pride for female breadwinners, the gender pay gap can hurt these families the most, impacting living conditions, nutrition, and opportunities for children.

Bing: Jobs that pay $100 an hour.

What can you do to make a difference? Pursuing a college education, if that’s an option, and learning how to negotiate a starting salary will help a young woman start strong out of the gate. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act showed that when women’s voices are heard — by petitioning legislators, contacting local press, and garnering support through social media — the gap can be narrowed.

More from Daily Dose: Seismologists reveal earthquake hotspots

Below are the report’s five best and five worst states for gender gaps in pay (and yes, we know Washington, D.C., is not actually a state). Median salaries are shown by gender, and the women:men pay ratio is shown as a percentage. Note that the dominant industries in a state have a big impact on ratios. In California, the significant number of women in leisure and hospitality services amounts to more female-friendly pay opportunities, whereas in the coal-mining state of West Virginia, men dominate the workforce.

To learn more, you can download The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap in its entirety from the AAUW website. It’s free, too, which is helpful if the gap has you on a tight budget.

5 Smallest Gender Pay Gaps

State Ranking	Women's Salary	Men’s Salary	As percentage
1. Washington, D.C.	$60,332	$66,760	90%
2. Vermont	$38,177	$44,057	87%
3. Maryland	$48,748	$56,708	86%
4. Nevada	$35,484	$41,803	85%
5. California	$41,817	$49,281	85%

5 Biggest Gender Pay Gaps

State Ranking	Women's Salary	Men’s Salary	As percentage
47. North Dakota	$32,462	$44,660	73%
48. West Virginia	$29,688	$42,124	70%
49. Utah	$32,843	$47,573	69%
50. Louisiana	$31,844	$46,313	69%
51. Wyoming	$34,381	$51,630	67%

Subscribe to the Daily Dose

Photo: Silvia Jansen/Getty Images

< Back to The Daily Dose

51Comments

Best

Dec 13, 2012 8:19PM

Can anyone confirm if the article is trying to say: 'When men & women do the same job in these states, women are paid less' OR is the article saying 'women will take more lower paying jobs (waitress, file clerk, maid, etc) than men, hense, bringing the average pay down;???????

Previous replies

Really Snoop...

Dec 13, 2012 8:44PM

I think this kind of statistic is hard to follow and/or prove. Personally, I love statistics for whatever reason but some of them are way too vague. Like this one for example, are we talking about me being a construction worker against a woman construction worker? or are we talking about which gender makes more money as a whole. Cause there are numerous things to evaluate when saying something like this. For instance, I am not sexist in any way, but, there are certain things I can absolutely do better than a woman and vice versa of course. If I were a construction worker paid to do nothing but lift stuff from a truck and then walk it to the job site (I use this example cause its exactly what I did for summers in High School) then I should absolutely be paid more. Thats not sexist but I have met very few women I think could lift a fraction of what I can. It's science not sexist. However, If I am a doctor and there is a female doctor doing the same job well if we both have the same experience and well done resume then we should both be paid the same. Also, if there is a woman working as a clerk, cashier, waitress, etc., and a man owns a real estate company then who do you think is getting paid more? I also assume more men hold jobs then women. I only say that because in America we have a huge difference in the number of stay at home moms to stay at home dads.

Previous replies

bubba (mrwhipple)

Dec 13, 2012 8:44PM

What a slanted article. These figures do not even come close to the figures released by the BLS. The BLS has done surveys comparing apples to apples and those figures are about 1.8% pay variation. These figures must be on workforce total averages which would make the male rate of pay average higher. I do not see a lot of women working construction or the oilfield where pay is fairly robust. Match that against someone working as a childcare or LPN where the pay is very low.

Previous replies

j-w

Dec 13, 2012 8:52PM

Not very illustrative, no mention of the jobs performed, just a report on salaries, not worth the time it took to read it.

Previous replies

debt free in 5

Dec 13, 2012 9:52PM

HELLO THERE...I AM A WOMEN WHO LIVES AND WORKS IN WYOMING. I CAN BELIEVE THERE IS A GAP IN WAGES AS WOMEN TEND TO NOT DO THE SAME TYPE OF JOB MEN DO. WE HAVE A LOT OF MINING AND OIL FIELD JOBS THAT PAY VERY WELL, BUT ARE DONE BY MEN. IF I CHOSE TO DO THE SAME JOB AS MY HUSBAND I WOULD BE PAID THE SAME, BUT I CHOSE TO DO AN OFFICE JOB THAT OF COURSE PAYS LESS.

Previous replies

KENT HAMMOND

Dec 13, 2012 9:09PM

Which of these States are GOP cotrolled and right to work states. I live in Louisiana and right to work here goes far beyond union dues. It is generally interpretted as you have a right to work and the employers have a right to fire you if you disagree with their personal politics or their form of social justice.

Previous replies

1clearthinker

Dec 13, 2012 9:03PM

Men and women that do the same job with equal education and experience should make the same money. With that said, there are things that create the gap. About a year ago MSN had an article that stated women generally accept the first offer given by an employer, while men will negotiate for a higher salary. Over a few job changes, this adds up significantly. So it up to woman to become better negotiators to close the pay gap. Another is that the creators of these studies play games with the numbers. Women tend to take professions that pay less then men i.e. social worker versus accountant. So when they compare "average' salaries, they are comparing a social workers salary to an accountants salary. When they do wage comparisons in the same profession, they also play games with the experience. Women take time to raise their children. So when they come back into the workforce their skills are dated. Also they will compare salaries of women and men with similar experience say ten years, they do not factor in that the woman spent five of the last ten years raising children while the man was actually doing their profession for ten years. They do not factor that in when they do their studies, but employers do when offering a starting salary. If a woman knows of a man in the same company, doing the same job, with truly the same experience, give them hell and demand more money! But don't get too excited over these stats.

Previous replies

jmw2323

Dec 13, 2012 10:20PM

as is usual with everyone of these polls, they take men's salray as whole and compare it to women's as a whole. It is not nor has it ever been a comparison of like jobs by a man and a woman.

Previous replies

< 1 2 3 >

Gender gaps in pay: Worst and best states

Women are paid less than men nationwide

inspire: live a better life