In 2023, Kentucky women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $920, significantly below the $1,036 median usual weekly earnings of their male counterparts, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the 2023 women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio of 88.8 percent compared to 84.5 percent in 2022. Nationwide, women earned $1,005 per week, or 83.6 percent of the $1,202 median for men. (See chart 1 and table 1.) The earnings comparisons in this release are on a broad level and do not control for many factors that can be important in explaining earnings differences, such as job skills and responsibilities, work experience, and specialization.

  

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Chart 1. Women's earnings as a percentage of men's, full-time wage and salary workers, the United States and Kentucky, 2013–23 annual averages

Year	Kentucky	United States
2013	81.4	82.1
2014	76.3	82.5
2015	80.7	81.1
2016	85.9	81.9
2017	80.7	81.8
2018	82.2	81.1
2019	79.2	81.5
2020	76.8	82.3
2021	88.4	83.1
2022	84.5	83.0
2023	88.8	83.6

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, median weekly earnings of women in full-time wage and salary positions in 2023 ranged from $775 in Mississippi to $1,726 in the District of Columbia. Women’s earnings in twenty states and the District of Columbia exceeded $1,000 per week. (See map 1.)

Median weekly earnings for men were lowest in Mississippi at $921 and highest in the District of Columbia at $1,993. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia had weekly wages above $1,000 for full-time male workers.

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California had the highest women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio among the states, 89.9 percent. Louisiana had the lowest earnings ratio, 73.7 percent. (See map 2.) 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, sampling error for state estimates is considerably larger than it is for the national estimates. Consequently, earnings comparisons between states should be made with caution.

The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. The survey is conducted monthly for the U.S. 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 survey data on earnings are based on 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 release.

Readers should be aware that, because of sampling error, apparent differences between estimates for two or more groups or categories may not be statistically significant, and therefore not meaningfully different from one another. Standard errors are shown with many of the median earnings estimates in this report to help readers evaluate differences in earnings estimates.

For more information on the median weekly earnings of women and men, see Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 1111, Highlights of women’s earnings in 2023 and Technical Notes.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202)-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.