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.)

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.