The Best Paying Cities for Women

10. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
> Women’s pay as a pct. of men’s: 85.6%
> Median earnings for men: $42,039
> Median earnings for women: $35,987

Women are paid less than men in every U.S. metro area. In the Little Rock region, however, women’s median earnings equalled 85.6% of male median earnings, the 10th smallest gender pay gap. In some occupations, such as building and grounds cleaning and maintenance, women and men were paid roughly the same in 2013. Female health technologists in Little Rock actually had higher median earnings than men in similar jobs. Unlike many other metro areas with relatively small gender pay gaps, however, male health practitioners, including workers in other technical health occupations, earned approximately double what women did, despite making up a minority of the occupation’s workforce.

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9. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV
> Women’s pay as a pct. of men’s: 86.0%
> Median earnings for men: $41,369
> Median earnings for women: $35,562

Women’s median earnings working in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance jobs in the Las Vegas metro area were roughly equal to men’s earnings. The metro was the only large area in the country where there was no pay gap in this occupation. Unlike most areas, women and men also made up roughly equal shares of the occupation’s workforce. In computer and mathematical occupations, women’s median earnings in 2013 was 119.2% of men’s earnings, the third highest such share compared to large metro areas. Women in the region were also paid more than men in health practitioner occupations, jobs with especially wide gender pay gaps nationwide. In addition, women working in art and entertainment jobs, a dominant sector in the Las Vegas area, were also paid more than men for similar jobs.

8. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metro Area
> Women’s pay as a pct. of men’s: 86.4%
> Median earnings for men: $52,279
> Median earnings for women: $45,177

Women working in law enforcement earned nearly 79% of what men earned across the country. In the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks metro area, however, the median earnings of female law enforcement workers were equal to just over half of what men earned in similar jobs, nearly the worst such occupational gender pay gap among large metro areas. Women also earned just half of what men earned in personal care and service occupations — the worst gap among such jobs even though women make up the majority of the occupation’s workforce. The gender wage gap was narrower in other occupations, driving the area’s relatively small gender pay gap. In sales and related occupations, for example, women’s median earnings were 79.6% of men’s earnings, nearly the best such occupational wage gap in large metro areas.