In 2012, New Jersey women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of $818 or 79.4 percent of the $1,030 median weekly earnings for their male counterparts, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that the 2012 women’s to men’s earnings ratio in New Jersey declined 4 percentage points from the previous year. Nationwide, women earned $691 or 80.9 percent of the $854 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 New Jersey, the ratio of women’s to men’s earnings has generally trended upward since 2004 when the series recorded a low of 74.3 percent. (See chart 1.)

Among the 50 states, median weekly earnings of women in full-time wage and salary positions in 2012 ranged from $566 in Montana to $868 in Connecticut. States with the highest wages for women were located along the Eastern Seaboard. In addition to Connecticut and New Jersey, women’s earnings in Maryland and Massachusetts were also above $800 per week. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Across the nation, median weekly earnings for men were lowest in Arkansas at $717 and highest in Connecticut at $1,127. Four of the five highest-paying states for full-time male workers (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland) were also located along the Eastern Seaboard. The sole exception was on the West Coast – Alaska. (See table 1.)

The ratio of female-to-male earnings in 2012 varied across the nation, ranging from 65.5 percent in Wyoming to 86.8 percent in Arizona. (See table 1.) Of the three states with women’s to men’s ratios of 85 percent or higher, two were located in the West (Arizona and California) and one was located in the East (Maryland). (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 1045, Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2012, issued in October 2013; copies are available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2012.pdf. Information in this release is also available to sensory impaired individuals. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (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, 2012 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	102,749	$768	$2	45,462	$691	$3	57,286	$854	$4	80.9
Alabama	1,522	724	14	683	620	15	839	812	27	76.4
Alaska	248	888	16	110	757	14	138	1,025	27	73.9
Arizona	1,969	732	9	878	670	14	1,090	772	18	86.8
Arkansas	971	651	15	438	603	10	534	717	21	84.1
California	11,570	820	10	4,890	754	9	6,680	877	12	86.0
Colorado	1,714	850	18	725	750	15	989	958	24	78.3
Connecticut	1,178	988	22	519	868	29	659	1,127	40	77.0
Delaware	309	807	20	146	737	20	163	888	36	83.0
District of Columbia	276	1,102	37	138	1,072	43	138	1,131	38	94.8
Florida	6,299	735	6	2,992	676	9	3,307	796	13	84.9
Georgia	3,287	737	13	1,503	640	17	1,784	838	26	76.4
Hawaii	430	753	14	192	689	16	238	839	35	82.1
Idaho	478	706	13	187	614	11	291	785	15	78.2
Illinois	4,368	809	11	1,958	708	13	2,411	895	16	79.1
Indiana	2,158	716	14	936	632	16	1,221	809	19	78.1
Iowa	1,096	744	14	491	654	17	605	823	20	79.5
Kansas	988	738	14	428	649	14	560	825	22	78.7
Kentucky	1,414	663	12	644	596	13	770	733	18	81.3
Louisiana	1,449	676	18	637	573	17	812	796	20	72.0
Maine	423	741	13	191	654	25	232	823	25	79.5
Maryland	2,198	921	20	1,056	842	23	1,141	988	27	85.2
Massachusetts	2,167	935	12	980	840	19	1,187	1,040	28	80.8
Michigan	2,876	783	14	1,237	687	18	1,639	889	20	77.3
Minnesota	1,897	865	15	816	779	23	1,081	948	24	82.2
Mississippi	922	677	14	413	582	19	509	776	23	75.0
Missouri	2,013	750	18	913	660	19	1,099	841	30	78.5
Montana	293	658	21	137	566	18	156	733	23	77.2
Nebraska	680	728	14	312	663	17	369	787	21	84.2
Nevada	897	690	11	399	620	10	497	768	19	80.7
New Hampshire	478	883	21	214	772	24	264	975	29	79.2
New Jersey	3,142	935	13	1,425	818	26	1,717	1,030	25	79.4
New Mexico	614	737	17	274	645	25	340	802	22	80.4
New York	6,513	819	10	2,951	746	9	3,562	900	14	82.9
North Carolina	3,124	727	10	1,392	641	13	1,732	792	13	80.9
North Dakota	266	735	12	116	651	12	149	834	23	78.1
Ohio	3,662	739	9	1,589	664	10	2,073	802	15	82.8
Oklahoma	1,299	695	11	570	631	15	729	760	16	83.0
Oregon	1,144	823	19	480	756	17	664	901	28	83.9
Pennsylvania	4,320	774	8	1,898	694	11	2,423	849	13	81.7
Rhode Island	342	796	21	158	733	23	184	886	42	82.7
South Carolina	1,462	669	15	677	603	17	785	724	18	83.3
South Dakota	282	664	10	129	604	9	153	737	16	82.0
Tennessee	2,125	675	12	922	611	12	1,203	740	15	82.6
Texas	8,904	718	7	3,852	633	9	5,051	795	15	79.6
Utah	879	760	14	326	661	18	552	870	25	76.0
Vermont	216	767	16	96	692	19	120	859	29	80.6
Virginia	2,974	846	17	1,335	756	21	1,640	951	24	79.5
Washington	2,204	870	21	935	746	20	1,269	982	28	76.0
West Virginia	574	740	14	257	614	14	317	846	28	72.6
Wisconsin	1,929	783	16	833	696	25	1,095	863	20	80.6
Wyoming	207	808	17	81	645	22	126	984	19	65.5
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.