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News Release Information

13-109-PHI
Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Women’s Earnings in Pennsylvania - 2011

In 2011, Pennsylvania women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of $680 or 81.6 percent of the $833 median weekly earnings for their male counterparts, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio in Pennsylvania rose 0.8 percentage point in 2011 and marked the series high point. Nationwide, women earned $684 or 82.2 percent of the $832 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 fluctuated but generally increased since 1997, ranging from a low of 71.8 percent in 1997 to a high of 81.6 percent in 2011. Since 2007, the ratio has steadily increased. (See chart 1.)

 Chart 1. Women’s earnings as a percent of men’s, full-time wage and salary workers, United States and Pennsylvania, 1997-2011 annual averages

Among the 50 states, median weekly earnings of women in full-time wage and salary positions in 2011 ranged from $564 in Montana to $878 in Connecticut. States with the highest wages for women were located along the Eastern Seaboard. In addition to Connecticut, women’s earnings in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland were also above $800, followed by New York at $760 per week. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Across the nation, median weekly earnings for men were lowest in Arkansas at $675 and highest in Connecticut at $1,106. Five of the seven highest-paying states for full-time male workers (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Maryland) were located along or close to the east coast. The two exceptions were in the Northwest—Alaska and Washington. (See table 1.)

The ratio of female-to-male earnings in 2011 varied across the nation, ranging from 68.7 percent in Louisiana to 89.9 percent in California. (See table 1.) Two other Western states followed California in the ranking—Arizona at 88.5 percent and Nevada at 88.4 percent. (See chart 3.) The differences among the states reflect, in part, variation in the occupations and industries found in each state and in the age composition of each state’s labor force. In addition, comparisons by gender are on a broad level and do not control for factors such as educational attainment, which can be significant in explaining earnings differences.

For more information on the median weekly earnings of women and men, see Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 1038, “Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2011,” issued in October 2012; copies are available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2011.pdf. Information in this release is also available to sensory impaired individuals. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.


Technical Note

The estimates in this report were obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides a wide range of information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. This survey is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau, using a national sample of about 60,000 households, with coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The earnings data are collected from one-fourth of the CPS monthly sample.

Statistics based on the CPS data are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. The differences among data for the states reflect, in part, variations in the occupation, industry, and age composition of each state’s labor force. In addition, sampling error for the state estimates is considerably larger than it is for the national data.

The principal definitions used in connection with the earnings series in this release are described below.

Usual weekly earnings. 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.)

Median weekly earnings. The median is the amount which divides a given earnings distribution into two equal groups, one having earnings above the median and the other having earnings below the median.

Wage and salary workers. Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors but, for the purposes of the earnings series, excludes all self-employed persons, regardless of whether or not their businesses are incorporated.

Full-time worker. Workers who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or principal job.

Table 1. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, by state and sex, 2011 annual averages
State Both sexes Women Men Women's earnings as percent of men's
Number of workers (thousands) Median weekly earnings Standard error of median Number of workers (thousands) Median weekly earnings Standard error of median Number of workers (thousands) Median weekly earnings Standard error of median

United States

100,457 $756 $2 44,486 $684 $3 55,971 $832 $3 82.2

Alabama

1,476 680 14 675 595 13 801 753 19 79.0

Alaska

254 822 18 110 730 16 144 967 24 75.5

Arizona

1,984 741 12 866 694 25 1,117 784 21 88.5

Arkansas

923 617 10 419 567 19 504 675 20 84.0

California

10,981 794 9 4,614 751 9 6,367 835 15 89.9

Colorado

1,724 845 17 716 740 16 1,008 930 20 79.6

Connecticut

1,197 988 24 526 878 33 671 1,106 49 79.4

Delaware

309 768 18 144 719 22 165 844 29 85.2

District of Columbia

253 1,046 37 127 950 25 126 1,151 22 82.5

Florida

6,041 736 6 2,869 668 9 3,172 797 14 83.8

Georgia

3,250 723 13 1,504 641 14 1,746 800 19 80.1

Hawaii

422 738 15 201 657 16 221 842 29 78.0

Idaho

450 700 13 178 604 10 271 769 19 78.5

Illinois

4,293 784 11 1,878 691 18 2,415 889 18 77.7

Indiana

2,125 708 13 881 607 12 1,244 799 24 76.0

Iowa

1,080 721 13 489 656 16 591 799 22 82.1

Kansas

1,020 722 13 453 640 19 566 811 20 78.9

Kentucky

1,368 688 15 633 613 14 735 747 14 82.1

Louisiana

1,423 709 23 633 592 13 790 862 33 68.7

Maine

418 714 14 191 636 19 227 795 24 80.0

Maryland

2,146 885 24 1,014 815 25 1,132 963 27 84.6

Massachusetts

2,190 956 16 959 853 18 1,231 1,058 19 80.6

Michigan

2,857 781 11 1,252 685 18 1,605 867 22 79.0

Minnesota

1,835 833 18 794 743 18 1,042 921 21 80.7

Mississippi

887 644 13 418 582 17 469 716 25 81.3

Missouri

2,036 733 13 955 628 15 1,081 841 20 74.7

Montana

288 623 12 135 564 13 153 725 21 77.8

Nebraska

659 701 14 301 631 21 358 755 19 83.6

Nevada

841 697 13 364 650 16 477 735 15 88.4

New Hampshire

482 862 18 213 748 19 269 977 25 76.6

New Jersey

3,090 926 15 1,373 831 20 1,717 997 22 83.4

New Mexico

576 734 12 253 649 16 323 774 18 83.9

New York

6,552 826 10 3,005 760 8 3,547 894 15 85.0

North Carolina

2,954 687 13 1,373 630 11 1,581 751 14 83.9

North Dakota

249 718 14 109 621 12 140 810 25 76.7

Ohio

3,674 742 8 1,602 669 13 2,072 800 14 83.6

Oklahoma

1,237 677 15 534 601 13 703 765 16 78.6

Oregon

1,167 774 19 511 701 16 656 877 23 79.9

Pennsylvania

4,242 760 8 1,858 680 12 2,384 833 15 81.6

Rhode Island

343 830 21 159 746 27 183 917 30 81.4

South Carolina

1,396 650 15 660 585 13 736 742 23 78.8

South Dakota

286 660 12 133 602 9 152 730 16 82.5

Tennessee

2,059 655 13 919 605 12 1,140 712 19 85.0

Texas

8,634 680 7 3,694 619 8 4,940 730 9 84.8

Utah

880 718 11 336 615 13 544 847 32 72.6

Vermont

221 753 12 99 704 17 122 819 29 86.0

Virginia

2,926 831 19 1,317 745 16 1,610 925 25 80.5

Washington

2,126 877 21 877 743 18 1,249 997 21 74.5

West Virginia

559 695 15 242 595 13 317 797 26 74.7

Wisconsin

1,873 763 13 840 693 23 1,033 829 23 83.6

Wyoming

201 788 16 79 638 17 122 915 20 69.7

Note: Data refer to persons 16 years and older.
 

 

 Chart 2. Women’s median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, by state, 2011 annual averages
 Chart 3. Womens earnings as a percent of mens, full-time wage and salary workers, by state, 2011

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, January 22, 2013