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Women earn 88 percent as much as men in Hawaii, among the highest in 2015

December 22, 2016

Women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings that were 81.1 percent of men’s earnings in 2015. Women earned 87.9 percent of men’s earnings in Hawaii, which is among the states with the highest percentage of women’s to men’s earnings. The District of Columbia (87.4 percent), Florida (87.4 percent), and Delaware (87.3 percent) followed Hawaii as the states in which women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s were the highest. Wyoming (69.0 percent), North Dakota (74.8 percent), Utah (75.2 percent), and Alabama (75.5 percent) had the lowest ratio of women’s to men’s earnings.

Women's median usual weekly earnings as a percentage of men's, by state, 2015 annual averages
State Women's earnings as a percentage of men's Women's median weekly earnings Men's median weekly earnings Median weekly earnings (total, women and men)

United States

81.1% $726 $895 $809

Alabama

75.5 615 815 711

Alaska

76.1 787 1,034 903

Arizona

82.6 674 816 745

Arkansas

79.8 607 761 682

California

84.8 775 914 849

Colorado

82.8 779 941 863

Connecticut

76.7 874 1,139 1,012

Delaware

87.3 740 848 788

District of Columbia

87.4 1,070 1,224 1,148

Florida

87.4 699 800 747

Georgia

84.8 692 816 751

Hawaii

87.9 729 829 775

Idaho

81.1 654 806 726

Illinois

83.4 760 911 846

Indiana

79.8 687 861 769

Iowa

78.6 684 870 774

Kansas

76.7 667 870 765

Kentucky

80.7 685 849 756

Louisiana

76.1 630 828 727

Maine

80.0 711 889 790

Maryland

83.8 884 1,055 974

Massachusetts

81.6 907 1,112 1,001

Michigan

76.8 715 931 823

Minnesota

82.4 786 954 887

Mississippi

76.6 591 772 668

Missouri

77.3 667 863 768

Montana

83.1 660 794 730

Nebraska

76.2 652 856 754

Nevada

81.6 660 809 730

New Hampshire

77.3 746 965 865

New Jersey

83.2 874 1,050 969

New Mexico

78.6 638 812 722

New York

86.9 816 939 888

North Carolina

85.8 664 774 723

North Dakota

74.8 682 912 797

Ohio

81.2 716 882 800

Oklahoma

77.0 640 831 739

Oregon

83.0 734 884 826

Pennsylvania

78.4 723 922 833

Rhode Island

79.6 737 926 827

South Carolina

84.3 642 762 696

South Dakota

79.2 624 788 705

Tennessee

85.6 647 756 705

Texas

79.1 683 864 770

Utah

75.2 660 878 787

Vermont

83.4 752 902 831

Virginia

80.0 825 1,031 937

Washington

77.8 797 1,025 909

West Virginia

79.7 640 803 724

Wisconsin

76.8 707 920 824

Wyoming

69.0 654 948 797

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.

In 2015, women in construction and extraction occupations had median weekly earnings of $704, or 93.7 percent of the median for men in the same occupations ($751), the highest percentage among all major occupational groups. Women in office and administrative support occupations earned $646 per week, or 93.2 percent of the median for men ($693). Women in legal occupations had median weekly earnings of $1,135, or 60.5 percent of the median for men ($1,877).

Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, by occupational group, 2015
Occupational group Women's earnings as a percent of men's Women's median weekly earnings Men's median weekly earnings

Total - All occupations

81.1% $726 $895

Construction and extraction

93.7 704 751

Office and administrative support

93.2 646 693

Farming, fishing, and forestry

91.6 437 477

Installation, maintenance, and repair

90.4 761 842

Community and social service

86.8 845 973

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

86.6 942 1,088

Architecture and engineering

86.6 1,257 1,452

Food preparation and serving related

86.1 414 481

Healthcare support

84.9 490 577

Computer and mathematical

82.8 1,245 1,503

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

81.0 419 517

Personal care and service

79.6 475 597

Education, training, and library

79.3 907 1,144

Healthcare practitioners and technical

77.9 991 1,272

Life, physical, and social science

77.4 1,067 1,379

Protective service

77.0 655 851

Management

76.6 1,139 1,486

Business and financial operations

75.7 1,004 1,327

Transportation and material moving

72.8 494 679

Production

71.2 519 729

Sales and related

65.7 578 880

Legal

60.5 1,135 1,877

The earnings comparisons in this report are on a broad level and do not control for many factors that can be significant in explaining earnings differences, such as job skills and responsibilities, work experience, and specialization. These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see Highlights of women’s earnings in 2015.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Women earn 88 percent as much as men in Hawaii, among the highest in 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/women-earn-88-percent-as-much-as-men-in-hawaii-among-the-highest-in-2015.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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