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.
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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
