March is Women’s History Month and to celebrate, Business.org has analyzed the gender pay gap across America to find out how each state is doing with equal pay. Researchers looked at the pay gap in each state, how education affects wage disparity, and how America’s pay gap has changed since 2010.
Turns out, Arizona ranks No. 11 for having the smallest gender pay gap, with women making $0.84 for every $1 a man earns. Since 2010, the gender pay gap in Arizona has improved by 1.8%.
Interesting findings
• California has the lowest pay gap in the country. Women in the Golden State make roughly $0.88 for every dollar earned by men. The state has also narrowed its pay gap by 4.6 percentage points since 2010.
• Women in Washington, DC, boast the highest median earnings. DC women earn a median of $70,911 per year. However, DC’s also seen some of the worst regression in pay disparity. In fact, with a -4.2 percentage point difference compared to 2010, our nation’s capital has backslid more than any other area in the country apart from South Dakota.
• Most of the top 10 states are located along the East Coast. New York, DC, Maryland, Vermont, Florida, and Delaware form the bulk of our top 10, along with outliers California, Nevada, Arkansas, and Oregon.
• Nearly every state has narrowed its gender pay gap since 2010. The only areas where pay disparity has gotten worse are South Dakota, DC, New Hampshire, Alabama, North Dakota, New Jersey, and Iowa.
• Arkansas is the most improved. The state has narrowed its pay gap by an incredible 10.5 percentage points—the biggest improvement in the nation. That being said, the state’s median earnings for women are still one of the lowest in the nation at just $36,042 per year.
• Women should avoid West Virginia and Louisiana. The Pelican State has the widest gender pay gap in the nation, with women making just $0.70 for every dollar made by men. West Virginia, meanwhile, offers the third-worst gender pay gap plus the lowest median earnings for women: $32,778 per year.
