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.)

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.