It’s no secret that the gender pay gap continues to be a huge problem in the U.S. At least we can take comfort in the fact that we’re slowly but surely moving in the right direction, though, right? Thanks to some new data from NerdWallet, here’s the lowdown on which cities in the U.S. have the fastest-decreasing gender pay gaps.
NerdWallet took their data form the U.S. Census bureau and did some number crunching to calculate the gender pay gap: First, they divided the median population for full-time male workers by the median population of full-time female workers in 283 cities with populations of at least 100,000; then, the subtracted the male and female incomes in 2007 from the male and female incomes in 2012. They were then able to rank the top 25 cities by how fast their gender pay gaps were closing—as well as to rank the worst 25 cities with the fastest growing ones (yikes). Drum roll, please...
Not quite what I had in mind, but I'll take it. Anyway: The good news? The cities in the top five for fastest decreasing gender pay gap have all shrunk the pay gap by at least 30 percent over the past seven years. Murfreesboro in Tennessee wins the award for best progress made overall with a 37.84 percent improvement; in 2007, full-time working men made a median of $50,616 to full-time working women’s $33,234, whereas now, men make $41,799 to women’s $36,549. California is also doing well, with 10 of the top 25 cities for fastest-decreasing pay gaps being located in that state.
But there’s bad news, too: The gender pay gap is rapidly growing in a lot of places, too. In the city of Clearwater, Fla., for example, the 2007 median income for full-time males was actually less than that of full-time women: Men used to make about $27,480 to women’s $29,863. In 2012, however, the gap had reversed itself and increased dramatically: Full-time men now make a median of $47,560, while full-time women make $33,735. That’s almost a 50 percent change in the gender pay gap; men make a whopping 141 percent the income that women do.
When it comes to closing the pay gap, we still have a long, long way to go—and not just in terms of gender. But here’s hoping we can get there eventually, right?
Head on over to NerdWallet to see full lists of the top and bottom 25 U.S. cities for changing wage equality; in the meantime, check out this nifty infographic for a few fast facts:
Via: NerdWallet
