Gender pay gaps vary by state, industry, job and race and ethnicity. Here’s where pay disparities are the widest

More than ever before, women in the U.S. are taking control of their finances, investing in their future selves and making smart money choices.

But there’s still one obstacle in their way today: the gender pay gap.

Census Bureau data for 2022 estimates women working full time, year-round earned 84 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned. Evidence of the gender pay gap is as well-documented as it is longstanding, but the extent to which it’s even worse for women of color and women who work in finance and insurance shows how stubborn and entrenched the problem is, according to a new Bankrate analysis of Census Bureau data.

The gender pay gap impacts all women, but not in the same way. It’s even more pronounced for certain racial and ethnic groups, industries and jobs. Where a woman lives can influence how much she earns compared to her male counterpart, and even education has yet to close the pay gap between women and men, despite more than half of women in the workforce having a college degree and prime-age women (ages 25-54) participating in the workforce at record rates.

Unequal pay leaves women working with less, ultimately impacting their ability to save money, pay down debt and achieve financial security.  Women can lose nearly $400,000 over a 40-year career because of the gender pay gap, according to Bankrate’s calculations. The losses are even greater for Black and Hispanic women over a 40-year career: roughly $885,000 and $1.2 million, respectively.

To shine a brighter spotlight on the gender pay gap, Bankrate analyzed Census Bureau data to determine where the widest gender pay gaps exist across industries, jobs and states — and who it’s impacting the most.

Key takeaways on the gender pay gap

The gender pay gap is widest for Black and Hispanic women

Women of color are hit the hardest by the gender pay gap. On average, Black women working full time, year-round earned 69 percent as much as white, non-Hispanic men in 2022. Hispanic women earned only 58 percent as much, according to Bankrate’s analysis of Census Bureau data.

White women working full time, year-round earned 80 percent as much as their male counterparts in 2022, similar to the overall gender pay gap. Asian women are the closest to reaching pay equality as of 2022, making 99 cents for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man earned.

The pay gap has narrowed for all groups of women over the last three decades, but more so for white and Asian women than for Black and Hispanic women. Here’s how much the earnings gap narrowed for each group between 1988 and 2022:

• Asian women: 30 percentage points
• White women: 16 percentage points
• Black women: 11 percentage points
• Hispanic women: 5 percentage points

Economists and financial experts say the gender pay gap is fueled by gender discrimination, the increased likelihood of women ending up in lower-paying jobs, lack of family-friendly policies and the motherhood penalty. For Black and Hispanic women, racial discrimination is also part of the equation.

Dr. Nicole Smith, chief economist at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, says Black and Hispanic women are more likely to experience employment and promotion discrimination than other groups, making it even more difficult for them to move up in their careers or achieve higher pay.

About a quarter of employed women (23 percent) said they have experienced discrimination because of their gender, while only 1 in 10 employed men say the same, a 2023 Pew Research poll found. The same poll found roughly 40 percent of Black workers and 20 percent of Hispanic workers said they have experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotions because of their race or ethnicity, compared to eight percent of white workers.

The wider wage gap between Black and Hispanic women and white, non-Hispanic men can be attributed to the fact that fewer Black and Hispanic Americans are college-educated compared to white or Asian Americans, according to Pew Research. But even when looking at Black and Hispanic women with a bachelor’s degree or higher, Census Bureau data shows the pay gap persists.

“There’s still the glass ceiling, whereby it’s difficult for women to move upwards in certain types of education or certain types of occupations,” Smith says. “As much as we’re in a post-racial  America, racial and ethnic discrimination is still there.”

Finance, insurance, science and tech industries have the widest gender pay gaps

Bankrate looked at the gender pay gap across more than 25 industries and found that the pay gap was largest in the finance and insurance industries. In this field, women made up 54 percent of workers in 2022, but they earned 61 cents on the dollar, on average, compared to men, Census Bureau data shows.

In the ’80s in the financial industry, there were no women. If you were a woman, it was like you were an alien with three heads. It just didn’t exist, so it’s still a young profession in terms of even allowing women in.

— Cady NorthFounder and CEO of North Financial Advisors

Even though there are more women in the financial services sector today, North says it’s still a challenging industry to navigate as a woman and negatively affects women’s desire to stay.

“There’s still a lot of bias and microaggressions,” North says. “They’re less likely to stick it out because they know they have to sort of play a man’s game, and that’s really frustrating. I see it a lot.”

Other industries with the widest gender pay gaps are:

• Professional, scientific and technical services (72.1 percent)
• Management of companies and enterprises (72.5 percent)
• Health care and social assistance (73.6 percent)

Within industries, there’s occupational segregation between men and women. Smith says women are more likely to move into lower-paying jobs within an industry even when they have similar education backgrounds as men, leading to broader wage differences between men and women in the same industry. Smith points to STEM as an example.

“Even when you talk about the percentage of women in STEM, women tend to self-segregate,” Smith says. “Pharmaceuticals and biological sciences are examples of this. In the biological sciences, it’s one of the STEM categories that has the lowest compensation and it’s dominated by women.”

Education is another example of an industry where occupational segregation impacts women’s earnings. Dr. Carolyn Sloane, a labor economist, found in her research that men in the education field are twice as likely to move into higher-paying management roles and women in the same field are twice as likely to go into lower-paying administrative support roles, although women are twice as likely to major in education.

There are several industries where the gender pay gap is more narrow. The construction industry has the smallest pay gap, at about 96 cents for every dollar a man earns. Other industries with the smallest gender pay gaps are:

• Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction (95.4 percent)
• Real estate and rental and leasing (92.4 percent)
• Administrative and support and waste management services (89 percent)

Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents and financial clerks have the widest gender pay gaps

It’s a given that different jobs lead to different salaries. But what many people may not realize is that many of the same jobs pay differently, depending on your gender.

After analyzing pay disparities across more than 350 jobs, Bankrate found the pay gap is largest for securities, commodities and financial services sales agents — with women earning nearly 55 percent as much as their male counterparts — as of 2022. Financial clerks have the second-biggest pay gap between men and women, with female financial clerks earning roughly 59 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn. Other jobs with the widest pay gaps are:

• Cardiovascular technologists and technicians (61.3 percent)
• Title examiners, abstractors and searchers (62.7 percent)
• Personal financial advisors (63.1 percent)

These jobs have the smallest gender pay gaps:

• Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products (99.3 percent)
• Chemical engineers (98.4 percent)
• News analysts, reporters and journalists (98.2 percent)
• Physical therapist assistants and aides (98.1 percent)
• Social workers (97.8 percent)

There are a dozen jobs where women outearn or earn the same as men, including:

• Food servers, non-restaurant (100.3 percent)
• Geoscientists and hydrologists, except geographers (100.5 percent)
• Travel agents (100.6 percent)
• Healthcare social workers (102.7 percent)
• Paralegals and legal assistants (103 percent)
• Television, video, and film camera operators and editors (103.7 percent)
• Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors (104.1 percent)
• Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants (105.7 percent)
• Dietitians and nutritionists (105.9 percent)
• Interior designers (107.9 percent)
• Personal care and service workers (114 percent)
• Tutors (135.4 percent)

Many jobs with smaller or non-existent gender pay gaps tend to be dominated by women. A deeper look at Census Bureau data reveals that women make up 60 percent of non-restaurant food servers, 78 percent of travel agents and 94 percent of executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants. However, there are some exceptions. For example, female geoscientists and hydrologists outearn men and yet only account for 21 percent of that occupation’s workforce. Similarly, female television, video, and film camera operators and editors outearn men and account for 19 percent of that occupation’s workforce.

Utah and Louisiana are the states with the widest gender pay gaps

Where you live affects your job, well-being and lifestyle. If you’re a woman, it can also drastically affect your earnings. The pay gaps across states partly reflect the differences in the jobs and industries within each state and the demographic differences in each state’s workforce.

These are the top five states with the smallest gender pay gaps:

These are the bottom five states with the largest gender pay gaps:

What’s next for the gender pay gap?

There are two ways to look at the progress of the gender pay gap — it depends on how far you zoom out. In 1988, women earned roughly 66 percent as much as men, and by 2022, women earned almost 84 percent as much as men, Census Bureau data shows.

However, over the last two decades, the gender pay gap has remained in somewhat of a holding pattern. From 2000 to 2010, it increased by roughly three percentage points and by another almost seven percentage points between 2011 and 2022.

Smith says there isn’t a single explanation for why the gender gap has barely budged in the last two decades, but that it’s likely due to a combination of factors: limited progress in policies that benefit women in the workplace, such as paid family leave or childcare benefits; the types of college degrees and jobs women pursue; discrimination; and broader economic factors. Caregiving responsibilities also continue to fall largely on the shoulders of women, leaving many feeling like they have no chance but to take on a lower-paying job with more flexibility or leave the workforce altogether.

A lot of women are being forced to make tough decisions, which plays out in terms of where they end up in their job and how much they get paid. The work environment itself just doesn’t lend itself to women staying for a significant length of time.

— Dr. Nicole SmithChief economist at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

3 ways women can financially empower themselves

The responsibility isn’t on individual women to fix the gender pay gap, but there are steps women can actively take to ensure they’re advocating for themselves and becoming more confident with their finances, even if they’re working with less. Consider doing the following to grow your financial wealth:

• Build an emergency fund: Start contributing a few dollars a week to a high-yield savings account and gradually build your savings to cover three to six months’ worth of expenses. The more savings you have, the better equipped you’ll be to withstand a sudden job loss or unexpected expense.
• Invest in your future self: If you have access to a 401(k) plan through an employer, take advantage of it. If your employer doesn’t offer a 401(k) plan, consider opening a traditional IRA or Roth IRA. Financial experts often recommend putting 10 percent of your annual income toward your retirement, but if that’s not realistic, start small by contributing three to five percent of your paycheck to your retirement account. Consider investing the money in your retirement account in low-cost index funds. Index funds are a great option if you want to diversify your investment portfolio, minimize the time and money you spend investing and reduce your risk over time.

• Negotiate for higher pay: Come prepared with data on the goals and targets you hit within the last six months, and use online salary comparison tools to figure out what other workers with similar experience, education and geographical location are getting paid. Take it a step further by speaking transparently about salary ranges with professionals in your industry.

“We have to walk into those boardrooms and into those meeting rooms with that knowledge of what we deserve, how much we ought to be getting and negotiate strongly for that first pay,” Smith says. “We have to keep pushing the envelope because, without that, we will be having this conversation 10 years from now.”

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  Methodology

  To determine which racial and ethnic groups have the widest gender pay gaps, Bankrate aggregated and analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) supplement. Women’s earnings as a percentage of White, non-Hispanic men’s between 1988 and 2022 are based on the median annual earnings of full-time, year-round workers aged 15 and up. To calculate gender pay gaps in states, industries and jobs, Bankrate aggregated and analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) for 2022 showing median annual earnings of full-time, year-round workers aged 16 and up. All data included in this study is adjusted for inflation.

  Bankrate commissioned YouGov Plc to conduct the financial freedom survey. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,521 U.S. adults. Fieldwork was undertaken June 5-7, 2023. The survey was carried out online and meets rigorous quality standards. It employed a non-probability-based sample using both quotas upfront during collection and then a weighting scheme on the back end designed and proven to provide nationally representative results.