American Association of University Women Examines Gender Earnings Gap by State

The American Association of University Women recently released a study on the gender earnings gap by state. According to the report, nationwide in 2016, male adults who were year-round, full-time workers had average earnings of $51,640. For women who worked year-round at full-time jobs, their annual earnings were $41,554. Thus, for year-round, full-time workers, women earned only 80 percent of the money earned by men.

When the data is broken down by state, the report found that women fared the best in the state of New York. There, women who were year-round, full-time workers earned 89 percent of their male counterparts, the best ratio in the nation. Women earned at least 86 percent of men’s earnings in California, Florida, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

The earnings gap for year-round, full-time workers was largest in the states of Utah and Louisiana. In these states, women earned only 70 percent of what was earned by their male counterparts.

Other states where women earned less than 75 percent of the earnings of men were West Virginia, Montana, Oklahoma, Indiana, North Dakota, and Alabama.