Special Report

20 Worst Paying Jobs for Women

Thomas C. Frohlich

Published: March 23, 2016 12:34 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 11:35 am

Women in the United States earn around 20% less than men. Even when controlling for observable factors such as experience, education level, age and job title, the gender pay gap stubbornly remains.

This is the conclusion of a report just released by job review company Glassdoor. According to the study, women of the same age, with the same education and years of experience, still earn barely over four-fifths of what their male peers earn. When controlling for industry, year, company and occupation, the gap shrinks to 5.4%.

According to Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor, people have “a common misperception that if you compare apples to apples you see no pay gap, and that’s just not true.”

Click here to see the 20 worst paying jobs for women.

Occupation is among the largest factors in the gender pay gap. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed female weekly earnings as a percentage of male weekly earnings in full-time wage and salary jobs using data from the Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS). The 20 jobs with the least pay equity between men and women range from compliance officers, a job in which the typical woman earns 74.5% of male earnings, to securities, commodities and financial services sales agents, a job in which women earn 52.5% of what men are paid in the same job.

Many of the nation’s highest-paying jobs are in male-dominated fields, which partially explains the pay gap at the national level. Workers in four of the 10 highest paying full-time jobs are comprised of one-third or fewer women. Women make up a majority of workers in only two of these 10 jobs. “Men tend to sort into certain fields and women tend to sort into other fields and they don’t pay the same,” Chamberlain said.

Further, in many of these high-paying, male-dominated jobs, women are paid the least equitably. Women working in the four jobs with the widest pay gaps — financial services sales agents, personal financial advisors, advertising sales agents and financial managers — are typically paid at best two-thirds what their male peers earn.

Many high-paying jobs exist in an extremely competitive, winner-take-all environment. Chamberlain explained that since these high-level positions often do not have a lot of flexibility, women who have any home responsibilities are more likely to opt out of the cutthroat environment.

Pay equity may also be less likely when men dominate the management structure. “[W]hen there is more of a gender balance in a profession, you might have more of a balance among the gatekeepers who determine pay,” Chamberlain suggested.

Wages have grown considerably over the past 10 years. In many cases, however, the size of these increases depends a great deal on whether you are a man or a woman. In six of the 20 least equitable jobs for women, wages for female employees actually grew faster than male earnings. Even with the shrinking gap, these jobs remain on this list. In another seven of these occupations, the gap widened, with male earnings growing faster than female wages. The change from 2006 could not be determined for the remaining seven jobs as 2006 salaries for these occupations are unavailable.

To identify the 20 worst paying jobs for women, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed median female weekly earnings as a percentage of median male earnings among full-time wage and salary workers in the United States. All data obtained from the BLS are for 2015. We also considered job characteristics in 2006, also from the BLS.

These are the 20 worst paying jobs for women.

20. Compliance officers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 74.5%
> Women median weekly earnings: $1,025
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,375
> Number of workers: 235,000

Compliance officers are one of just 20 full-time jobs where a woman can expect to earn less than 75 cents for every dollar a man makes in the same profession. Compliance officers investigate eligibility requirements of contracts such as licenses and permits. The enforcement of contracts is also often part of the job.

19. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 74.5%
> Women median weekly earnings: $749
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,006
> Number of workers: 276,000

Women consist the majority of the workforces in a number of professions with the widest pay gaps, suggesting that female-dominated professions do not necessarily offer more equal pay for women. However, women transportation, storage, and distribution managers are vastly outnumbered by their male peers that it may have an effect on the pay gap — one of the largest. Fewer than 20% of these workers are women versus 44.3% of the nation’s workforce.

18. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 74.4%
> Women median weekly earnings: $614
> Men median weekly earnings: $825
> Number of workers: 2,326,000

With 2.3 million full-time sales supervisors in the United States, this profession is one of the largest compared to other jobs. While both male and female retail supervisors receive relatively low wages, women are paid even less. A typical man earns $825 a week, but a woman earns just $614 a week in the same job.

17. General and operations managers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 74.4%
> Women median weekly earnings: $1,002
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,347
> Number of workers: 823,000

Much like first-line supervisors, general and operational managers help coordinate the operations of an organization. Unlike retail managers, operations managers may work in a range of different industries and are on the whole paid more. Still, a woman in the position earns less than 75 cents for every dollar a man earns working the same job. Since 2006, earnings for female operations managers have grown slower than earnings for men in this occupation.

16. First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 73.8%
> Women median weekly earnings: $458
> Men median weekly earnings: $621
> Number of workers: 378,000

Women supervising workers preparing and serving food are some of the worst paid workers — both when compared to men in similar positions and when compared to workers all other jobs. The median weekly earnings of $458 for a woman the job is one of the lowest in the country.

15. Accountants and auditors
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 73.5%
> Women median weekly earnings: $988
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,345
> Number of workers: 1,464,000

Earnings of women working as accountants and auditors grew by 17% from 2006, faster than that of their male peers. If this trend continues, women in these positions may eventually achieve equal pay. At the moment, however, female accountants and auditors still earn just 73.5% of what male workers in the same job make. By contrast, the national pay gap across full-time jobs is 81.1%.

14. Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 73.1%
> Women median weekly earnings: $796
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,089
> Number of workers: 270,000

In 2006, salaries of women and men clinical laboratory technologists and technicians was nearly equal. Since then, the gap has widened considerably. Male pay for the job increased by 36.6% over that time, far faster than average. Women’ earnings, however, are about what they were in 2006, up by less than 1%.

13. Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 72.7%
> Women median weekly earnings: $824
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,134
> Number of workers: 317,000

Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators work primarily for insurance companies. According to the BLS, the number of these jobs is expected to grow by 3% through 2024, slower than average. For women in this job, not only is the pay lower than that of their male coworkers, but also earnings have grown slower than male salaries since 2006.

12. Property, real estate, and community association managers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 72.4%
> Women median weekly earnings: $823
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,137
> Number of workers: 401,000

Property managers coordinate the numerous aspects of residential, commercial, and industrial properties. Like a number of other jobs on this list, earnings of female employees in these positions grew at a below-average pace, while earnings for male property managers grew faster than average — the pay gap got worse. Now, women working this profession earn 72.4% of what their male peers earn doing the same job.

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11. Retail salespersons
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 71.2%
> Women median weekly earnings: $494
> Men median weekly earnings: $694
> Number of workers: 1,918,000

The largest pay gaps tends to be in high-paying occupations. Retail sales, however, which requires low levels of education, is one of the worst paying job. The median weekly pay for both sexes in the occupation is $590, one of the lower figures among all occupations. While a typical salesman earns $694 per week, a typical saleswoman earns $494 per week, or 71.2% of what men earn. Women also make up a minority of salespeople in the United States. Of the nearly 1.9 million retail salespersons, fewer than 40% are female.

10. Real estate brokers and sales agents
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 69.9%
> Women median weekly earnings: $735
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,052
> Number of workers: 463,000

Real estate brokers are usually licensed to manage their own real estate businesses, while sales agents usually work with a broker. Both facilitate real estate deals between property owners and interested parties and are usually paid commissions. A typical female real estate broker earns $735 per week, less than 70% of the median weekly earnings of men. This is the 10th largest gender pay gap in the country.

9. Insurance sales agents
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 69.7%
> Women median weekly earnings: $717
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,028
> Number of workers: 427,000

The gender pay gap among insurance sales agents has widened since 2006. Weekly earnings for insurance saleswomen grew by 9.8%, less than half the pace for female earnings across all full-time jobs. Meanwhile, weekly earnings for the typical male in the same position grew 15.5%.

8. Financial analysts
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 69.7%
> Women median weekly earnings: $1,171
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,680
> Number of workers: 295,000

Like most jobs in the financial industry, financial analysts are paid very well regardless of gender. The highest paying jobs often have the largest pay gaps, however. A typical female financial analyst earns less than 70% of what a male earns in the same job. By contrast, women working full-time jobs nationwide earn 81.1% of what their male counterparts earn.

7. Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 69.1%
> Women median weekly earnings: $583
> Men median weekly earnings: $844
> Number of workers: 701,000

Broadly speaking, inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers are responsible for quality control in a variety of non-agricultural products. Earnings of men and women employed in this profession grew at approximately the same pace — each slightly faster than the national average pace. The pay is not especially high compared with other jobs with large pay gaps. Still, although a more equal pay is more likely among lower paying jobs, the pay gap in this profession is nearly the worst of any job.

6. Administrative services managers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 67.6%
> Women median weekly earnings: $981
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,451
> Number of workers: 170,000

Managers of administrative services frequently supervise recordkeeping, mail distribution, office upkeep, and other activities. The educational services industry employs the most administrative services managers. The typical person employed in this position earns $1,191 per week, well above the $809 median for all full-time jobs. At $981, the profession’s median weekly pay for women is just 67.6% of male earnings in this job.

5. First-line supervisors of production and operating workers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 67.4%
> Women median weekly earnings: $623
> Men median weekly earnings: $924
> Number of workers: 783,000

Professions with higher proportions of women workers do not necessarily offer more equal pay. First-line supervisors of production and operating workers is dominated by men, however, and this could partially explain the especially wide pay gap. Women make up just 17% of such workers and earn 67.4% of what men do in this job.

4. Financial managers
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 65.2%
> Women median weekly earnings: $1,130
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,732
> Number of workers: 1,124,000

Earnings of female financial managers grew by 26.4% since 2006, faster than the earnings growth for male financial managers — one of a handful professions where the pay gap shrank. The earnings gap, however, is far from equal as women in this job still earn just 65.2% of what their male counterparts make.

3. Advertising sales agents
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 63.1%
> Women median weekly earnings: $729
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,155
> Number of workers: 161,000

The pay gap across full-time jobs nationwide improved slightly. For advertising sales agents, however, it worsened substantially. The typical advertising salesman earns $1,155 per week, up 22.4% from 2006. Meanwhile, the typical advertising saleswoman earns $729 a week, up by just 1.7% over the same time. The BLS projects employment for this profession will decline by 3% through 2024.

2. Personal financial advisors
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 59.4%
> Women median weekly earnings: $1,033
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,738
> Number of workers: 407,000

Female personal financial advisors earn 59.4% of males working the same job, the second widest earnings gap among all occupations reviewed. Personal financial advisors typically earn income through informal, more flexible channels such as commissions and bonuses. Men are frequently the recipients of these extra wages. Female financial advisors are closing the gap, however. Female earnings in the profession grew by 25.5% from 2006, well above the earnings growth of their male peers.

1. Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents
> Women’s earnings as pct. of men’s: 52.5%
> Women median weekly earnings: $767
> Men median weekly earnings: $1,461
> Number of workers: 211,000

Women employed as securities, commodities and financial sales agents earn about half of what their male counterparts earn. People in the occupation facilitate deals between buyers and sellers in financial markets. They also offer trading advice to companies and individual investors. As is common in the financial sector, financial services sales agents are paid extremely well, regardless of gender. The median weekly earnings among workers in the profession is $1,155, higher than the vast majority of occupations reviewed — but women earn $767 a week, while men earn $1,461 a week.