These Are the States With the Biggest Pay Gaps
It's a commonly cited statistic that women working full-time in the United States make 79 cents for every dollar men earn, but new research reveals that number varies widely from woman to woman. For women higher on the corporate ladder, women of color, and—according to a new NerdWallet study—women in the West, South, and Midwest, the wage gap is even worse.
The site analyzed 2007–2015 U.S. Census Bureau data to determine how much money women and men in different states were making. The worst offender was Wyoming, where women, on average, made just 64 cents for every dollar men earned. Louisiana wasn't much better, with women making 68 cents to the dollar. West Virginia, Utah, North Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Idaho, Michigan, and Ohio—in that order—followed close behind.
These numbers are even more depressing when you consider their implications for women's postretirement lives. In Wyoming, for example, women need to invest $1.55 for every dollar men do to end up with the same retirement savings.
Some states are doing slightly better, though. In New York, the state with the lowest wage gap, women made 89 cents per men's dollar in 2015. Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, Rhode Island, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, Vermont, and Nevada also had smaller-than-average gaps. In most states, the gap grew smaller between 2007 and 2015, but it didn't change at all in Texas, and it actually grew in states like Oklahoma, Utah, and Vermont (which, despite having a lower gap that most, did have a slight increase during this period).
NerdWallet suggests the gender pay gap results from fewer women rising to high-level positions and more taking breaks to care for children. But while getting more women in leadership roles and providing more child-care options are both critical, men also make more money than women with the same job.
And since less income means less money to invest, the pay gap becomes a larger savings gap down the road. Even in New York, women still need to put $1.13 into their 401(k) for ever dollar men do if they hope to end up with the same amount of money. Of course, it's hard for them to do that when they're making less in the first place.