November 2, 2012 by Mike Sauter
In
2011, men working full-time earned a median of $48,765. Women earned
just $38,373. That difference of more than $10,000 only tells part of
the story of the continuing gender wage gap in this country. Depending
on the industry, men in some states earn as much as $20,000 to $30,000
more a year than women. In some cases, the difference is even more. Men
in corporate managerial positions earn roughly $35,000 more than women
working full time in the same field.
Income inequality is severe in some industries, and there are states
with concentrations of these businesses. In these states, the gender
earnings gap for full-time workers is extremely high. In Wyoming,
where there are several of these ”pay disparity” occupations, women
earned $17,838 less than men in 2011 — the largest disparity among all
states. Based on data from the Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community
Survey, 24/7 Wall St. identified the worst-paying states for women.
In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Institute for Women’s Policy
Research study director Ariane Hegewisch explained that the biggest
reason for the pay gap between men and women in these states came down
to where people are employed. While the gap in pay still exists in
nearly every occupation, she said, it is much narrower in fields such as
health care, education and real estate. Nationally, the income gap for
educational services is $7,408, while in real estate it is less than
$5,000.
In states where more people are employed in blue-collar work, women
are more likely to work in sectors where the pay is much lower than men
in blue-collar positions.
Hegewisch explained that in states where more workers are blue
collar, men are able to find employment in jobs such as resource
collection and construction — positions that are still predominantly
male and allow for bonuses and overtime and generally higher pay. In
North Dakota, for example, the booming natural gas industry employs
hundreds of thousands of workers. In 2011, 90.9% of oil, mining and
extraction workers in the state were male. Those few women who were
employed in that industry earned $46,301 less than men. All five states
with the highest proportions of workers in this field are among the 10
with the highest gender wage gap.
In states like North Dakota, women are often left to work in
lower-paying fields, especially retail. While the income gender gap is
closer to the national wage gap in this field, at less than $9,000, the
fact that a disproportionately large number of women are employed in
this field results in a wide income gap statewide. In West Virginia —
which has one of the greatest gender wage gaps in the country — the
largest employer is Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (
NYSE: WMT).
As of 2011, 54.8% of West Virginian retail workers were women, the
third-highest proportion in the country. Women working full-time in
retail in West Virginia earned a median of just $14,304.
In the states with the largest wage gap between men and women, it is
not always the case that full-time income for women is lower than in
other states. In five of the 10 states, income for women was among the
top 10 in the country. However, in those states, earnings among men were
even higher. For example, in Massachusetts, women working full-time
earned a median of $47,302, the fourth highest in the country. Men in
the state, however, earned more than $60,000.
The gap in pay in some of these states is even more pronounced in
their cities. In five major metropolitan statistical areas, male pay
exceeds female pay by at least $20,000. Most of the 10 metro areas with
the widest gender pay gap are in the 10 states with the highest pay
gaps. In Casper, Wy., which has the worst pay gap in the country, men
earn more than $25,000 more than women.
To identify the states that pay women the least, 24/7 Wall St.
compared the median incomes for the past 12 months of both men and women
who worked full-time, year-round in each state, based on data collected
by the U.S. Census Bureau and released as part of the 2011 American
Community Survey report. From the ACS, we included in our analysis the
proportion of workers in state employed in each industry, as well as the
gender distribution and gender-specific income in each of these
industries. We also reviewed 2011 unemployment rates.
These are the 10 worst-paying states for women.
10. North Dakota
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $12,955
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $33,792 (11th lowest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $46,747 (25th highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 3.5% (the lowest)
North Dakota’s unemployment rate was the lowest in the country in
2011 at 3.5%, but the jobs that pay larger salaries were primarily in
male-dominated industries. The state is in the midst of an
oil boom,
an industry that is attracting predominantly young men to work in the
oil fields for relatively high pay. More than 13% of state workers were
employed in natural resources, construction and maintenance, while more
than 9% were employed in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting and
mining, both the second highest among all-states. Meanwhile, 12% of
North Dakota workers were employed in retail, which has a larger
proportion of women working in it and tends to have lower wages.
9. West Virginia
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $13,237
>Female full-time, year-round median income:$30,632 (2nd lowest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $43,869 (14th lowest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 8% (25th lowest)
At 12.3%, West Virginia had the sixth highest percentage of workers
in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting and mining, with men
representing more than 91% of those workers men, the second highest
percentage of all states. West Virginia has long had a robust coal
mining industry, with
wages for
coal miners averaging $85,051 in 2011 compared to $38,567 across all
industries. Conversely, 12.6% of West Virginia workers were employed in
the lower paying retail trade, the sixth highest rate of all states.
About 55% of retail workers in 2011 were women — the third highest rate
of all states.
8. New Hampshire
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $13,263
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $41,953 (8th highest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $55,216 (8th highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 5.4% (4th lowest)
New Hampshire is by some measures one of the best states to be in as a
female worker. The state had one of the lowest unemployment rates in
the country in 2011, and full-time, year-round females earned more than
all but seven states in the country. However, they still earned $13,263
less than New Hampshire men in 2011. In the state’s Manchester-Nashua
metropolitan area, the difference was nearly $16,000. More than 165,000
New Hampshire workers were employed in education, more than in any other
major industry. New Hampshire women employed in that industry earned
$34,007, while men employed in the industry earned $44,288.
7. Virginia
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $13,459
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $41,797 (10th highest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $55,256 (7th highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 6.2% (8th lowest)
Virginia had a comparatively high-skilled workforce — it had the
second highest percentage of workers in professional, scientific and
management, and administrative and waste management services. Those jobs
comprised nearly 15% of Virginia’s workforce in 2011, and men filled
more than 60% of those jobs, the sixth highest rate of all states. But
the wage gap was present across a wide range of different industries.
Women in full-time management, business and financial occupations earned
72 cents for every $1 men earned in 2011. It was even worse in sales
occupations, where women earned just 64 cents for every dollar men
earned.
6. Massachusetts
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $13,924
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $47,302 (4th highest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $61,226 (3rd highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 7.4% (18th lowest)
Massachusetts workers earned a median of $30,463 in 2011, more than
all but three states. The state’s women earned nearly $14,000 less than
men. In the Boston metropolitan area, the wage gap was more than
$15,000. In the state, nearly 70% of all managers of corporate
enterprises were women, but women in those positions earned a median of
$46,635, which was less than half what men in those position earned — a
median of $108,262. Massachusetts had one of the largest proportions of
its working population employed in education. In that industry, median
earning among men exceeded those of women by more than $6,000.
5. Washington
>Difference in full-time, year-round income:$13,979
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $41,817 (9th highest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $55,796 (6th highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 9.2% (16th highest)
As of 2011, Washington state had one of the highest proportions of
workers in professional, scientific and management positions. Women in
those positions earned nearly $22,500 less than men did. In Washington’s
Bremerton-Silverdale metropolitan area, women earned $18,650 less than
men — the ninth biggest earnings gap among all U.S. metropolitan areas.
In the state’s professional, scientific and management positions, which
account for a high 11.9% of all positions in the state, median earning
for men exceeded that for women by $22,487. This was nearly $10,000
higher than the national wage gap in this industry.
4. Utah
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $15,094
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $34,052 (13th lowest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $49,146 (19th highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 6.7% (11th lowest)
In 2011, Utah women with full-time, year-round jobs earned $15,094
less than men in those positions. But if part-time jobs are included,
women earned $16,236 less than men in 2011, a higher pay gap than any
state but Alaska. Two metropolitan areas in Utah earned a spot among the
20 metro areas with the highest pay gap between men and women. Women in
the Provo-Orem metro area with full-time, year-round positions earned
$20,446 less than men in 2011, the third highest gap in the country.
Meanwhile, women in the Ogden-Clearfield metro area earned $17,587 less
than men, the 13th largest gap.
3. Louisiana
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $15,130
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $32,633 (9th lowest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $47,763 (20th highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 7.3% (16th lowest)
More than 8% of jobs in Louisiana were in construction, more than any
other state, with more than 90% of those construction jobs filled by
men. Meanwhile, the 10.6% of jobs in arts, entertainment, recreation and
food services, which generally offer lower pay, were the seventh
highest of all states. Women filled more than 55% of those jobs. Two
Louisiana metropolitan areas were among the 10 areas with the highest
wage gap between men and women. Women in the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
metro area with full-time, year-round jobs earned $20,315 less than men
with similar positions, the fourth largest wage gap. Women in Lake
Charles earned $18,462 less, the 10th largest gap.
2. Alaska
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $15,285
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $41,529 (11th highest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $56,814 (5th highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 7.6% (22nd lowest)
Alaska’s
job market,
similar to many other states on the list, has benefited from an oil and
gas boom, which tends to pay solidly high wages but is a male-dominated
field. Meanwhile, the finance, insurance, real estate and rental
properties occupations, fields with a lower pay gap compared to others,
comprised a national-low 4% of jobs in the state. Including part-time
workers, the difference in median income between men and women was
higher than any other state, with a $16,474 discrepancy. The National
Women’s Law Center
found
that women made up roughly two out of every three minimum wage workers
in Alaska. High educational attainment by women did not erase the pay
gap. As a whole, Alaska women with a bachelor’s degree earned less than
men with just some college completion or an associate degree.
1. Wyoming
>Difference in full-time, year-round income: $17,838
>Female full-time, year-round median income: $35,698 (24th lowest)
>Male full-time, year-round median income: $53,536 (9th highest)
>2011 unemployment rate: 6% (7th lowest)
Much of Wyoming’s pay gap can be attributed to the jobs available in
the state. Wyoming had the highest percentage of people working in
occupations involving both natural resources, construction and
maintenance, as well as agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting and
mining. While those jobs, notably in mining and oil production, tend to
be male-dominated and higher paying, the Wyoming Women’s Foundation
found
pay gaps still persisted in other jobs that are not necessarily male
dominated. The Casper metropolitan area had the largest gap of all 366
metropolitan areas in terms of pay between men and women. The median
income for a man working full-time was $25,222 higher than for a woman
working full-time.
-By Michael B. Sauter and Samuel Weigley
pinned the recent spike in 
