Women's earnings 83 percent of men's, but vary by occupation

In 2014, women who worked full time in wage and salary jobs had median usual weekly earnings of $719, which was 83 percent of men's median weekly earnings ($871). Women's earnings as a percentage of men's varied by occupation. Women's median usual weekly earnings in construction and extraction occupations ($691) were 91 percent of the earnings of their male counterparts.

Women's median usual weekly earnings in office and administrative support occupations ($637), and food preparation and serving related occupations ($419) were also each over 90 percent of men's earnings.

In contrast, women's earnings in protective service ($617), sales and related ($570), and legal occupations ($1,001) were 70 percent, or less, of men's earnings in 2014.

Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers varied by occupation. Occupational groups with the highest median weekly earnings for women included computer and mathematical ($1,165), architecture and engineering ($1,158), and management occupations ($1,127). Occupation groups with the lowest median weekly earnings for women included farming, fishing, and forestry ($375), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($413), and food preparation and serving related occupations ($419).

These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see Women’s Earnings in 2014 and Women in the labor force: a databook (2015 Edition). These comparisons of earnings are on a broad level and do not control for many factors that may be important in explaining earnings differences. Only 0.3 percent of women in full-time wage and salary jobs worked in construction and extraction occupations in 2014. Given the relatively small number of women in this occupational group, the sampling error for women’s earnings in construction and extraction occupations is considerably larger than for occupational groups with greater numbers of women.