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News Release Information

16-2414-PHI
Tuesday, January 03, 2017

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Women’s Earnings in Pennsylvania — 2015

In 2015, Pennsylvania women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $723, or 78.4 percent of the $922 median usual weekly earnings for their male counterparts, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins noted that the women’s to men’s earnings ratio in Pennsylvania decreased 0.4 percentage point from the previous year. Nationwide, women earned $726 per week, or 81.1 percent of the $895 median for men. (See table 1. Earnings in this report do not control for many factors that can be significant in explaining earnings differences.)

In Pennsylvania, the ratio of women’s to men’s earnings has ranged from a low of 71.8 percent in 1997 to a high of 81.7 percent in 2012. The ratio of men’s to women’s earnings in 2015 was its third consecutive decline since 2012. (See chart 1. Data for the states began in 1997.)

  Chart 1. Womens earnings as a percentage of mens, full-time wage and salary workers, the United States and Pennsylvania, 1997-2015 annual averages

Among the 50 states, median weekly earnings of women in full-time wage and salary positions in 2015 ranged from $591 in Mississippi to $907 in Massachusetts. In addition to Massachusetts, women’s earnings in Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Virginia were above $820 per week. In the District of Columbia, women earned a median weekly wage of $1,070. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Median weekly earnings for men were lowest in Tennessee at $756 and highest in Connecticut at $1,139. Six other states (Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Alaska, Virginia, and Washington) had weekly wages above $1,000 for full-time male workers. In the District of Columbia, men earned a median weekly wage of $1,224.

Hawaii had the highest female-to-male earnings ratio among the states, 87.9 percent, and Wyoming had the lowest, 69.0 percent. The District of Columbia had a ratio of 87.4 percent. (See chart 3.) The differences among the states reflect, in part, variation in the occupations and industries found in each state and differences in the demographic composition of each state’s labor force. In addition, earnings comparisons by gender are on a broad level and do not control for factors that can be significant in explaining earnings differences, such as job skills and responsibilities, work experience, and specialization.


Technical Note

The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. This survey is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau, using a scientifically selected national sample of about 60,000 eligible households, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The earnings data are collected from one-fourth of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers, both incorporated and unincorporated, are excluded from the data presented in this report.

Statistics based on the CPS data are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. The differences among data for the states reflect, in part, variation in the occupations and industries found in each state and differences in the demographic composition of each state’s labor force. In general, the sampling error for the state estimates is considerably larger than it is for the national data; thus, comparisons of state estimates should be made with caution.

The principal concepts and definitions used in connection with the earnings data in this release are described briefly below.

Usual weekly earnings. The data represent earnings before taxes and other deductions and include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received (at the main job in the case of multiple jobholders). Respondents are asked to identify the easiest way for them to report earnings (hourly, weekly, biweekly, twice monthly, monthly, annually, or other) and how much they usually earn in the reported time period. Earnings reported on a basis other than weekly are converted to a weekly equivalent. The term “usual” is determined by each respondent’s own understanding of the term. 

Medians of usual weekly earnings. The earnings estimates shown in this release are medians. The median is the midpoint in a given earnings distribution, with half of workers having earnings above the median and the other half having earnings below the median.

Wage and salary workers. These are workers age 16 and older who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payments in kind, or piece rates on their sole or principal job. This group includes employees in both the public and private sectors. All self-employed workers are excluded whether or not their businesses are incorporated.

Full-time worker. People who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or principal job are defined as working full time for the purpose of these estimates.

For more information on the median weekly earnings of women and men, see Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 1058, Highlights of women’s earnings in 2014, available at www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2015/pdf/home.pdf.

Information in this release will be available to sensory impaired individuals upon request: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by state, 2015 annual averages
State Total Women Men Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s
Number of workers (in thousands) Median weekly earnings Standard error of median Number of workers (in thousands) Median weekly earnings Standard error of median Number of workers (in thousands) Median weekly earnings Standard error of median

United States

109,080 $809 $2 48,334 $726 $2 60,746 $895 $3 81.1

Alabama

1,580 711 14 724 615 12 856 815 32 75.5

Alaska

255 903 15 110 787 21 145 1,034 24 76.1

Arizona

2,180 745 11 960 674 13 1,219 816 20 82.6

Arkansas

983 682 14 459 607 12 524 761 19 79.8

California

12,555 849 11 5,315 775 10 7,241 914 12 84.8

Colorado

1,895 863 16 821 779 17 1,074 941 20 82.8

Connecticut

1,245 1,012 31 586 874 29 659 1,139 23 76.7

Delaware

345 788 17 165 740 17 180 848 22 87.3

District of Columbia

295 1,148 15 147 1,070 44 149 1,224 41 87.4

Florida

6,601 747 7 3,041 699 9 3,559 800 16 87.4

Georgia

3,402 751 12 1,552 692 15 1,850 816 18 84.8

Hawaii

470 775 20 215 729 21 255 829 30 87.9

Idaho

530 726 11 217 654 12 312 806 22 81.1

Illinois

4,479 846 10 2,009 760 11 2,470 911 14 83.4

Indiana

2,284 769 15 997 687 23 1,287 861 27 79.8

Iowa

1,122 774 15 510 684 16 612 870 25 78.6

Kansas

1,023 765 13 456 667 17 567 870 21 76.7

Kentucky

1,392 756 16 637 685 17 755 849 25 80.7

Louisiana

1,559 727 15 716 630 17 843 828 27 76.1

Maine

423 790 19 194 711 19 229 889 31 80.0

Maryland

2,325 974 21 1,117 884 43 1,208 1,055 28 83.8

Massachusetts

2,423 1,001 15 1,076 907 21 1,347 1,112 39 81.6

Michigan

3,205 823 12 1,389 715 14 1,815 931 19 76.8

Minnesota

2,020 887 16 897 786 26 1,123 954 26 82.4

Mississippi

923 668 17 438 591 14 485 772 20 76.6

Missouri

2,168 768 15 1,006 667 14 1,162 863 22 77.3

Montana

329 730 11 147 660 17 182 794 24 83.1

Nebraska

714 754 10 322 652 16 392 856 19 76.2

Nevada

1,010 730 12 437 660 13 573 809 23 81.6

New Hampshire

503 865 23 219 746 18 284 965 25 77.3

New Jersey

3,208 969 13 1,396 874 18 1,812 1,050 30 83.2

New Mexico

624 722 17 286 638 16 338 812 31 78.6

New York

6,834 888 9 3,147 816 18 3,687 939 13 86.9

North Carolina

3,399 723 11 1,515 664 11 1,884 774 17 85.8

North Dakota

290 797 14 123 682 16 166 912 18 74.8

Ohio

3,888 800 12 1,723 716 13 2,165 882 14 81.2

Oklahoma

1,313 739 12 579 640 19 734 831 26 77.0

Oregon

1,235 826 19 527 734 21 708 884 22 83.0

Pennsylvania

4,461 833 11 1,960 723 13 2,501 922 15 78.4

Rhode Island

376 827 22 174 737 20 202 926 28 79.6

South Carolina

1,638 696 15 756 642 11 881 762 17 84.3

South Dakota

319 705 9 152 624 10 167 788 18 79.2

Tennessee

2,196 705 13 938 647 15 1,257 756 19 85.6

Texas

9,556 770 7 4,094 683 11 5,462 864 14 79.1

Utah

993 787 13 366 660 19 626 878 23 75.2

Vermont

223 831 17 102 752 17 120 902 23 83.4

Virginia

3,039 937 19 1,364 825 29 1,675 1,031 29 80.0

Washington

2,403 909 16 1,005 797 22 1,398 1,025 30 77.8

West Virginia

552 724 14 247 640 17 305 803 18 79.7

Wisconsin

2,082 824 14 909 707 16 1,173 920 24 76.8

Wyoming

217 797 19 89 654 15 128 948 25 69.0

NOTE: In general, the sampling error for the state estimates is considerably larger than it is for the national estimates; thus, comparisons of state estimates should be made with caution. Data shown are based on workers’ state of residence; workers’ reported earnings, however, may or may not be from a job located in the same state.
 

  Chart 2. Womens median usual weekly earnings, full-time wage and salary workers, by state, 2015 annual averages
  Chart 3. Womens earnings as a percentage of mens, full-time wage and salary workers, by state, 2015 annual averages

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, January 03, 2017