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News Release Information

16-57-PHI
Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Women’s Earnings in Pennsylvania — 2014

In 2014, Pennsylvania women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $716, or 78.8 percent of the $909 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 0.9 percentage point from the previous year. Nationwide, women earned $719 per week, or 82.5 percent of the $871 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. (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, United States and Pennsylvania, 1997-2014 annual averages

Among the 50 states, median weekly earnings of women in full-time wage and salary positions in 2014 ranged from $597 in Montana to $878 in Massachusetts. In addition to Massachusetts, women’s earnings in Maryland, Connecticut, and Virginia were above $820 per week. In the District of Columbia, women earned a median weekly wage of $1,115. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Median weekly earnings for men were lowest in Arkansas at $703 and highest in Connecticut at $1,089. Five other states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Alaska, Wyoming, and Maryland) had weekly wages above $1,000 for full-time male workers. In the District of Columbia, men earned a median weekly wage of $1,161.

Hawaii had the highest female-to-male earnings ratio among the states, 92.8 percent, and Wyoming had the lowest, 67.7 percent. The District of Columbia had a ratio of 96.0 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/cps/highlights-of-womens-earnings-in-2014.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, 2014 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

106,526 $791 $2 47,076 $719 $3 59,450 $871 $3 82.5

Alabama

1,550 738 17 680 621 15 870 832 20 74.6

Alaska

255 906 15 113 797 21 142 1,008 24 79.1

Arizona

2,112 753 11 928 669 15 1,184 827 23 80.9

Arkansas

932 657 14 428 610 13 504 703 20 86.8

California

12,071 828 9 5,152 785 11 6,919 879 13 89.3

Colorado

1,864 879 15 789 784 21 1,075 964 23 81.3

Connecticut

1,211 981 25 556 862 24 655 1,089 41 79.2

Delaware

324 782 17 154 733 18 170 837 26 87.6

District of Columbia

287 1,138 15 143 1,115 37 144 1,161 24 96.0

Florida

6,682 741 5 3,131 667 9 3,551 804 14 83.0

Georgia

3,297 745 10 1,488 675 23 1,810 806 27 83.7

Hawaii

463 760 13 214 739 14 249 796 26 92.8

Idaho

497 713 13 197 648 15 300 758 15 85.5

Illinois

4,418 811 11 1,983 753 9 2,435 874 16 86.2

Indiana

2,240 746 12 976 649 18 1,264 819 20 79.2

Iowa

1,171 750 12 531 667 18 640 823 25 81.0

Kansas

1,011 787 14 427 680 19 584 862 21 78.9

Kentucky

1,396 704 17 633 608 15 763 797 24 76.3

Louisiana

1,547 715 11 683 623 14 864 804 30 77.5

Maine

437 758 15 204 676 24 233 820 23 82.4

Maryland

2,206 947 18 1,021 870 34 1,185 1,001 39 86.9

Massachusetts

2,311 974 16 1,030 878 26 1,281 1,048 27 83.8

Michigan

3,131 818 13 1,349 726 15 1,782 903 15 80.4

Minnesota

1,977 875 17 883 801 16 1,094 951 24 84.2

Mississippi

867 681 15 403 605 13 463 759 20 79.7

Missouri

2,042 792 16 926 707 21 1,116 908 27 77.9

Montana

313 711 15 140 597 10 173 808 21 73.9

Nebraska

710 735 13 317 654 19 393 808 23 80.9

Nevada

964 691 11 412 637 13 552 742 13 85.8

New Hampshire

494 875 21 220 778 26 275 958 28 81.2

New Jersey

3,099 911 15 1,354 779 17 1,744 1,014 17 76.8

New Mexico

602 735 16 261 630 19 341 812 37 77.6

New York

6,660 882 10 3,067 808 13 3,594 955 14 84.6

North Carolina

3,229 712 10 1,472 657 12 1,758 763 12 86.1

North Dakota

286 786 13 121 686 17 165 885 18 77.5

Ohio

3,910 754 9 1,766 663 9 2,144 846 12 78.4

Oklahoma

1,263 704 11 552 616 14 711 787 18 78.3

Oregon

1,215 815 23 526 741 17 689 901 23 82.2

Pennsylvania

4,423 812 10 1,982 716 14 2,441 909 19 78.8

Rhode Island

356 859 22 166 753 21 189 961 29 78.4

South Carolina

1,563 704 16 725 623 13 838 784 24 79.5

South Dakota

294 696 10 135 616 11 159 783 18 78.7

Tennessee

1,983 696 12 858 657 18 1,124 728 19 90.2

Texas

9,471 748 7 3,971 671 11 5,500 820 13 81.8

Utah

982 773 12 360 646 18 622 882 17 73.2

Vermont

224 811 16 103 762 18 121 854 21 89.2

Virginia

3,036 917 20 1,362 826 33 1,674 988 21 83.6

Washington

2,324 918 21 957 807 23 1,367 996 20 81.0

West Virginia

566 740 13 246 643 29 319 832 22 77.3

Wisconsin

2,048 808 12 900 720 24 1,148 884 19 81.4

Wyoming

211 860 16 82 678 15 129 1,002 25 67.7

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, 2014 annual averages
 Chart 3. Womens earnings as a percentage of mens, full-time wage and salary workers, by state, 2014 annual averages

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2016