Trends in Employment and Earnings

Women’s status in the area of employment and earnings has improved on two indicators since the publication of IWPR’s last national report on the status of women, the 2004 Status of Women in the States, and remained unchanged or declined on two others. Women’s median annual earnings for full-time, year-round work in 2013 ($39,157) were nearly identical to their earnings for similar work in 2002 ($39,108 when adjusted to 2013 dollars). The gender earnings ratio improved during this time from 76.6 to 78.3 percent, narrowing the gender wage gap by 1.7 percentage points, and the share of women working in professional or managerial occupations grew from 33.2 to 39.9 percent. Women’s labor force participation rate, however, declined from 59.6 in 2002 to 57.0 percent in 2014.

View All State Rankings See Key Indicators

Best	Worst
1. District of Columbia	51. Mississippi
2. Maryland	50. West Virginia
3. Massachusetts	49. Idaho
4. Connecticut	48. Louisiana
5. New York	47. Alabama

Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap

During the last thirty years, men’s real earnings in the United States have remained essentially the same, while women’s have grown, albeit from a much smaller base. Between 1980 and 2013, after adjusting for inflation, real median earnings for women’s full-time, year-round work grew nationally from $30,138 to $39,157, while men’s decreased slightly from $50,096 to $50,033. Among women, the growth in real median annual earnings took place in the 1980s and 1990s; since the early 2000s, women’s earnings, like men’s, have stagnated.

Women’s Labor Force Participation

Women’s increased labor force participation represents a significant change in the U.S. economy since 1950. As of 2014, nearly six in ten women aged 16 and older (57.0 percent) worked outside the home, compared with 33.9 percent in 1950 and 43.3 percent in 1970. Women now comprise nearly half of the U.S. labor force at 46.8 percent. In each state, however, women are still less likely to be in the workforce than men.

Gender Differences Across Occupations

In the United States, gender differences persist across sectors of employment. An industry sector encompasses all employees of a firm or organization, whether they work as a janitor, secretary, accountant, or information technology specialist. Employment in services such as health care, nongovernmental education, leisure, and other services account for more than four in ten women’s jobs (nationally 43.2 percent), but only one in four men’s jobs (24.8 percent; Table 2.4). The construction industry (1.3 percent of women and 11.1 percent of men), manufacturing (6.6 percent of women and 14.4 percent of men), and transportation and communications (3.0 percent of women and 7.8 percent of men) together account for the jobs held by only one in nine employed women but almost one-third of those held by employed men (Table 2.4).

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Industry, Occupation, and Employment Sector
Distribution of Workers by Industry	Women	Men
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries	1.0%	3.4%
Mining and Construction	1.3%	11.1%
Manufacturing	6.6%	14.4%
Transportation, Communications, and Utilities	3.0%	7.8%
Wholesale and Retail Trade	20.7%	20.5%
Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate	7.3%	5.2%
Services	43.2%	24.8%
Government	16.9%	12.8%
Total	69,232,798	76,991,292
Distribution of Workers by Occupation	Women	Men
Management, Business, and Financial	13.7%	15.5%
Professional and Related	26.3%	17.7%
Service	21.8%	15.2%
Sales and Related	11.4%	10.3%
Office and Administrative Support	20.3%	7.0%
Natural Resources, Construction, and Maintenance	0.9%	16.3%
Production, Transportation, and Material Moving	5.7%	18.0%
Total	69,165,921	76,522,319
Share of All Workers in Managerial or Professional Jobs by Race/Ethnicity	Women	Men
White	43.7%	37.4%
Hispanic	24.5%	15.8%
Black	32.8%	22.9%
Asian/Pacific Islander	47.2%	50.1%
Native American	32.6%	21.9%
Other Race or Two or More Races	37.8%	33.1%
Total	39.7%	32.9%
Share of All Workers in STEM Fields	4.6%	10.3%
Women’s Share of STEM Workers	28.8%	71.2%
Distribution of Workers by Type of Employment	Women	Men
Private Sector	65.0%	70.5%
Self-Employed	7.0%	11.3%
Nonprofit Sector	11.1%	5.3%
Federal Government	2.5%	3.9%
State Government	5.9%	3.6%
Local Government	8.4%	5.3%
All Workers	69,107,828	76,874,871
^{Notes: Aged 16 and older. All public sector workers are included in government; other sectors are private sector only; services includes health care, education, business and repair services, personal services, entertainment and recreation services, and professional and related services. Racial groups are non-Hispanic; Hispanics may be of any race or two or more races. This definition of STEM occupation follows the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics definition of STEM occupations, which includes the social sciences and managerial occupations in social science fieds, but excludes support occupations, health occupations, and most technical and trade occupations that do not require a four-year degree. A person with a disability is someone who has one or more conditions requiring Assistance with Daily Living (ADL); these may include cognitive, ambulatory, independent living or self-care, vision, or hearing difficulty.}
^{Source: IWPR analysis of American Community Survey microdata (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Version 5.0).}

View Additional Data by State

View additional tables with state-level data on the indicators discussed in this section. State-level data are available for women’s and men’s earnings, the gender wage gap, the year the wage gap is projected to close, changes in earnings since 1999, labor force participation (rates, part-time, and unemployment), and distribution of workers by industry and by occupation (including those in managerial and professional occupations, and STEM workers). Much of the data is also disaggregated by race and ethnicity.

View the Additional Data by State

National Overview
	Women	Men
What Workers Earn	$38,000	$48,000
Gender Wage Ratio	79.2%
Labor Force Participation Rate	58.6%	68.9%
Share of All Workers in Managerial and Professional Jobs	39.9%	33.0%
^{Note: Aged 16 and older.}
^{Source: IWPR analysis of American Community Survey microdata (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Version 5.0).}

Median Annual Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap
What Workers Earn by Race/Ethnicity	Women	Men
White	$40,000	$52,000
Hispanic	$28,000	$30,900
Black	$34,000	$37,500
Asian/Pacific Islander	$46,000	$59,000
Native American	$31,000	$37,000
Other Race or Two or More Races	$38,000	$45,000
Total	$38,000	$48,000
What Workers Earn by Race/Ethnicity Compared with White Men	Women	Men
White	76.9%
Hispanic	53.8%	59.4%
Black	65.4%	72.1%
Asian/Pacific Islander	88.5%	113.5%
Native American	59.6%	71.2%
Other Race or Two or More Races	73.1%	86.5%
Total	73.1%	92.3%
What Workers Earn by Education Level	Women	Men
Less Than High School Diploma	$21,100	$28,600
High School Diploma or Equivalent	$30,000	$40,000
Some College Education	$34,800	$46,000
Associate’s Degree	$40,000	$50,000
Bachelor’s Degree	$50,000	$70,000
Graduate Degree	$65,000	$94,000
Total	$40,000	$50,000
What College Graduates Earn	$55,000	$76,000
What Workers Earn by Disability Status	Women	Men
With a disability	$32,500	$42,000
Without a disability	$38,000	$48,000
Change in Median Annual Earnings, 1999–2013	5.4%	-0.7%
^{Notes: Earnings data are for full-time, year-round workers. Data are for those aged 16 and older, except for data by education level, which are for those aged 25 years and older. Racial groups are non-Hispanic; Hispanics may be of any race or two or more races. A person with a disability is someone who has one or more conditions requiring Assistance with Daily Living (ADL); these may include cognitive, ambulatory, independent living or self-care, vision, or hearing difficulty}.
^{Source: IWPR analysis of American Community Survey data (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Version 5.0). For the change in median annual earnings, IWPR analysis of 2000 Decennial Census (for calendar year 1999) and 2013 American Community Survey microdata (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Version 5.0).}

Labor Force Participation, Part-Time Work, and Unemployment
Labor Force Participation Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Women	Men
White	56.7%	69.8%
Hispanic	56.0%	76.1%
Black	59.2%	63.6%
Asian	55.8%	72.4%
Total	57.0%	69.2%
Distribution of Workers by Race/Ethnicity	Women	Men
White	64.1%	64.9%
Hispanic	14.7%	17.3%
Black	13.2%	10.2%
Asian/Pacific Islander	5.5%	5.3%
Native American	0.6%	0.5%
Other Race or Two or More Races	1.9%	1.8%
Total	75,371,030	84,217,865
Share of All Workers Employed Part-time	29.4%	15.8%
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity	Women	Men
White	5.2%	5.4%
Hispanic	8.2%	6.8%
Black	10.5%	12.2%
Asian	4.6%	5.3%
Total	6.1%	6.3%
Unemployment Rate for Parents by Marital Status	Women	Men
Married, Spouse Present, with Own Children Under 18 Years	4.8%	4.1%
Single Parent with Own Children Under 18 Years	12.0%	10.5%
Unemployment Rate by Disability Status	Women	Men
With a disability	13.5%	13.0%
Without a disability	6.8%	7.4%
^{Notes: Aged 16 and older. Bureau of Labor Statistics data include the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 16 and older. The BLS data do not include Pacific Islanders in the Asian category and classify Hispanics in the racial groups with which they identify, as well as separately. For IWPR data analysis, racial groups are non-Hispanic; Hispanics may be of any race or two or more races. Part-time includes those who usually work fewer than 35 hours per week. Single parents include those who are never married, married with an absent spouse, divorced, separated, or widowed. A person with a disability is someone who has one or more conditions requiring Assistance with Daily Living (ADL); these may include cognitive, ambulatory, independent living or self-care, vision, or hearing difficulty.}
^{Source: Distribution of workers is IWPR analysis of American Community Survey microdata (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Version 5.0). All other data are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.}

Employment & Earnings

In this Section

Trends in Employment and Earnings

What Workers Earn

$38,000

$48,000

Gender Wage Ratio

79.2%

Labor Force Participation Rate

58.6%

68.9%

Share of All Workers in Managerial and Professional Jobs

39.9%

33.0%

Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap

What Workers Earn by Race/Ethnicity

Women

Men

White

$40,000

$52,000

Hispanic

$28,000

$30,900

Black

$34,000

$37,500

Asian/Pacific Islander

$46,000

$59,000

Native American

$31,000

$37,000

Other Race or Two or More Races

$38,000

$45,000

Total

$38,000

$48,000

What Workers Earn by Race/Ethnicity Compared with White Men

Women

Men

White

76.9%

Hispanic

53.8%

59.4%

Black

65.4%

72.1%

Asian/Pacific Islander

88.5%

113.5%

Native American

59.6%

71.2%

Other Race or Two or More Races

73.1%

86.5%

Total

73.1%

92.3%

What Workers Earn by Education Level

Women

Men

Less Than High School Diploma

$21,100

$28,600

High School Diploma or Equivalent

$30,000

$40,000

Some College Education

$34,800

$46,000

Associate’s Degree

$40,000

$50,000

Bachelor’s Degree

$50,000

$70,000