California has 2nd-smallest wage gap between women and men in US
The paycheck of a typical California woman with a full-time job is, relatively speaking, fairly close to what a man makes and it’s significantly more generous than the national norm.
As Equal Pay Day approaches – circle March 12 on your calendar – my trusty spreadsheet reviewed pay stats collected by Chamber of Commerce, a website for new businesses. The median income data for 2022 tracked full-time workers in the 50 states and 170 big US cities, including 38 from California.
Yes, California women earned 11% less than men, by this math. But only Vermont’s 10.5% gap was smaller. After California came New York at 12%, then Arizona and Nevada at 13%.
The biggest gap was in Utah at 27%, then Louisiana, Alabama and New Hampshire at 25%. And California’s economic rivals? Texas was No. 34 with a 20% gap; Florida was No. 12 at 15%.
This gender pay gap exists for numerous reasons – such as differing occupation choices (women tend to work in lower-paying fields) to the career challenges created within families (housework and childcare are burdens typically held by women) to, yes, bias in promotions and unfair pay patterns.
A key reason California’s pay gap is small is because its full-time working women get paid well above what other U.S. women make.
California women had the seventh-highest pay among the states at $59,420 – 16% above $51,275 earned nationally. Incomes ranged from Massachusetts at $67,043 to Mississippi at $39,245. Texas was No. 28 at $48,120 and Florida, No. 35 at $45,855.
California men ranked No. 12 at $66,916 – 7% above $62,344 paid nationally. Massachusetts was the highest at $79,782 and Mississippi was the lowest at $51,041. Texas was No. 26 at $60,004 and Florida, No. 45 at $54,157.
No easy measurement
This pay gap spurs lots of debate ranging from “why?” to “how to fix it?” and “does it even exist?”
It’s not simple math. Ponder some wage gap extremes in California among the state’s most populous cities.
Los Angeles had the smallest wage gap statewide in 2022. The thin 0.4% difference is the sixth-smallest divide nationwide. That came from a $56,657 median income for Los Angeles full-time working women (No. 45 highest of 170 U.S. cities) vs. $56,862 for men (No. 90 nationally).
Compare that to Irvine with the widest wage gap at 27% gap (the 11th largest of the 170 U.S. cities tracked). But think about the hefty size of Irvine paychecks – $89,093 for women (No. 5 nationally) vs. $121,349 for men (No. 3 nationally).
To the north, there’s Fresno with a 6% gap (No. 15 nationally) – $48,878 for women (No. 85) vs. $51,936 for men (No. 122) – vs. San Jose’s 20% gap (No. 127) – $75,508 for women (No. 10) vs. $94,350 for men (No. 18).
Los Angeles and Fresno, mathematically speaking, have better pay balance. But Irvine and San Jose clearly offer far better pay.
So depending on the point of view, answering “where do women fare better?” can be tricky.
Bottom line
No matter how the gap has come to be, at a minimum, it highlights added economic vulnerabilities for many women.
For example: 12.5% of U.S. women lived in poverty in 2022 vs. 10.5% of men.
The good news is that this pay divide is shrinking. Why? The answers range from greater numbers of women entering more-lucrative occupations, to above-average pay hikes in several women-dominated fields, to, yes, numerous employers weeding out unfair pay patterns.
Think about the upcoming Equal Pay Day, which its founder, the National Committee on Pay Equity, says “symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.”
So, 2022’s national wage gap means a typical woman with a full-time job theoretically had to work a full year plus almost three months (January to March 12) – to earn what a man did.
Historically speaking, this is the shortest span on record. Look at how the pay gap has narrowed, by this measurement.
My spreadsheet tells me in 2002, the wage gap was erased by April 22. In 1982, August 15 was equality day. And in 1972, it was Sept. 23.
Locally speaking
Look at the wage gaps in eight other big California cities for 2022 and how it compared to 170 other US cities …
Long Beach: 4% gap (No. 9) – $57,556 for women (No. 42) vs. $59,733 for men (No. 73)
Oakland: 8% gap (No. 24) – $75,982 for women (No. 9) vs. $82,299 for men (No. 18)
Anaheim: 12% gap (No. 55) – $45,695 for women (No. 114) vs. $51,730 for men (No. 124)
San Diego: 13% gap (No. 69) – $64,986 for women (No. 21) vs. $74,586 for men (No. 29)
Sacramento: 14% gap (No. 81) – $54,554 for women (No. 48) vs. $63,279 for men (No. 54)
Riverside: 16% gap (No. 96) – $45,432 for women (No. 114) vs. $53,988 for men (No. 106)
San Francisco: 17% gap (No. 105) – $100,175 for women (No. 3) vs. $120,237 for men (No. 9)
Bakersfield: 19% gap (No. 121) – $43,536 for women (No. 121) vs. $53,908 for men (No. 108)
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com