Women in the U.S. who worked full-time made 84 cents to the dollar men earned in 2023.
That’s $197 out of a weekly paycheck, which means she got paid $10,244 less doing the same job in 2023.
Wage gap calculated from 2023 median weekly earnings of full-time salary workers in the United States as per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Unfair and Illegal
Over 60 years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, on average women are still paid less than their male counterparts for doing comparable jobs in the U.S. — that’s called the pay gap. It means that each time the average woman starts a new job, she’s likely to start from a lower base salary than her male counterparts.
Just as interest compounds, so does the pay gap. As a woman moves from job to job during her career, the pay gap between her and her male colleagues is likely to become wider and wider.
In 2023, finance specialists and legal occupations suffered the largest gender pay gaps. Out of 595 occupations, there was one where women earned more than men: producers and directors.
64 more years
Unequal pay isn’t just unfair, it’s illegal. But unless men and women who have the same job discuss what they’re getting paid, unequal pay can go unaddressed indefinitely. At the current pace, it will take until 2088 for women and men’s earnings to reach pay parity. Let’s make it happen sooner.
Women make up nearly half of the labor force and mothers are the primary or co-breadwinners in the majority of families. When women aren’t paid fairly, families suffer and the American economy suffers.
Narrow the Gap
Insist on equal pay for equal work in your and your loved ones’ workplaces. Here’s what you can do.
- Get educated about Equal Pay and Compensation Discrimination.
- Raise awareness about the pay gap. To start, share a page from this site.
- Talk to employees and employers you know about the pay gap, salary negotiation techniques, and equal pay laws.
- Change the numbers by citing the numbers. Boatloads of data just like this is freely available from the U.S. Department of Labor and beyond.
Find out more
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s fact sheet The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation, Race, and Ethnicity 2020 (PDF, 12 pages)
Catalyst.org’s research report The Myth of the Ideal Worker: Does Doing All The Right Things Really Get Women Ahead? (PDF, 21 pages)
Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation--and Positive Strategies for Change by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever (Book, 248 pages)
Hiring manager at a multinational tech company: "I regularly hire women for 65% to 75% of what men make. I am sick of it. Here is why it happens and how you can avoid it."
Have the Talk
"Women work fewer hours than men so it follows they earn less."
"Women choose lower-paying jobs so that’s why there’s a pay gap."
"Women don’t negotiate their salary as aggressively as men so it’s their fault there’s a pay gap."
"Women choose to stay home with their kids so they have less professional experience than men and thus should earn less."
"In a lot of jobs, there’s no pay gap—and sometimes, women earn more than men."
See the whole list of occupations
- Management, professional, and related occupations
- Management, business, and financial operations occupations
- Management occupations
- Chief executives
- General and operations managers
- Marketing managers
- Sales managers
- Financial managers
- Legislators
- Advertising and promotions managers
- Computer and information systems managers
- Human resources managers
- Purchasing managers
- Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Construction managers
- Education and childcare administrators
- Food service managers
- Medical and health services managers
- Property, real estate, and community association managers
- Social and community service managers
- Managers
- Public relations and fundraising managers
- Lodging managers
- Facilities managers
- Industrial production managers
- Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
- Architectural and engineering managers
- Administrative services managers
- Training and development managers
- Entertainment and recreation managers
- Compensation and benefits managers
- Funeral home managers
- Natural sciences managers
- Postmasters and mail superintendents
- Emergency management directors
- Personal service managers
- Marketing and sales managers
- Funeral service managers
- Gaming managers
- Education administrators
- Business and financial operations occupations
- Market research analysts and marketing specialists
- Business operations specialists
- Accountants and auditors
- Financial and investment analysts
- Personal financial advisors
- Credit counselors and loan officers
- Financial specialists
- Tax preparers
- Fundraisers
- Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products
- Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products
- Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators
- Compliance officers
- Human resources workers
- Training and development specialists
- Logisticians
- Project management specialists
- Management analysts
- Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists
- Cost estimators
- Meeting, convention, and event planners
- Insurance underwriters
- Property appraisers and assessors
- Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents
- Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes
- Buyers and purchasing agents, farm products
- Budget analysts
- Credit analysts
- Financial examiners
- Appraisers and assessors of real estate
- Financial analysts
- Financial specialists
- Professional and related occupations
- Computer and mathematical occupations
- Computer systems analysts
- Computer programmers
- Software developers
- Computer support specialists
- Software quality assurance analysts and testers
- Web developers
- Computer occupations
- Operations research analysts
- Mathematical science occupations
- Information security analysts
- Database administrators and architects
- Network and computer systems administrators
- Computer network architects
- Web and digital interface designers
- Computer and information research scientists
- Actuaries
- Mathematicians
- Statisticians
- Mathematical science occupations
- Software developers, applications and systems software
- Database administrators
- Life, physical, and social science occupations
- Medical scientists
- Physical scientists
- Life, physical, and social science technicians
- Biological technicians
- Biological scientists
- Chemists and materials scientists
- Psychologists
- Chemical technicians
- Occupational health and safety specialists and technicians
- Agricultural and food scientists
- Conservation scientists and foresters
- Life scientists
- Astronomers and physicists
- Atmospheric and space scientists
- Environmental scientists and specialists, including health
- Geoscientists and hydrologists, except geographers
- Economists
- Survey researchers
- Clinical and counseling psychologists
- School psychologists
- Sociologists
- Urban and regional planners
- Social scientists and related workers
- Agricultural and food science technicians
- Environmental science and geoscience technicians
- Nuclear technicians
- Social science research assistants
- Psychologists
- Environmental scientists and geoscientists
- Life, physical, and social science technicians
- Geological and petroleum technicians
- Community and social service occupations
- Social and human service assistants
- Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors
- Counselors
- Social workers
- Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors
- Mental health counselors
- Child, family, and school social workers
- Healthcare social workers
- Community and social service specialists
- Clergy
- Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists
- Directors, religious activities and education
- Marriage and family therapists
- Rehabilitation counselors
- Mental health and substance abuse social workers
- Religious workers
- Counselors
- Social workers
- Community and social service specialists, including health educators and community health workers
- Legal occupations
- Lawyers
- Paralegals and legal assistants
- Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers
- Judges, magistrates, and other judicial workers
- Legal support workers
- Judicial law clerks
- Legal support workers
- Education, training, and library occupations
- Postsecondary teachers
- Elementary and middle school teachers
- Secondary school teachers
- Teachers and instructors
- Teaching assistants
- Preschool and kindergarten teachers
- Special education teachers
- Librarians and media collections specialists
- Educational instruction and library workers
- Archivists, curators, and museum technicians
- Tutors
- Library technicians
- Librarians
- Teacher assistants
- Education, training, and library workers
- Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations
- Pharmacists
- Physicians
- Physical therapists
- Registered nurses
- Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians
- Radiologic technologists and technicians
- Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses
- Dentists
- Chiropractors
- Optometrists
- Emergency medicine physicians
- Radiologists
- Podiatrists
- Audiologists
- Radiation therapists
- Recreational therapists
- Exercise physiologists
- Nurse anesthetists
- Nurse midwives
- Acupuncturists
- Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners
- Cardiovascular technologists and technicians
- Magnetic resonance imaging technologists
- Nuclear medicine technologists and medical dosimetrists
- Dietetic technicians and ophthalmic medical technicians
- Opticians, dispensing
- Pharmacy technicians
- Dietitians and nutritionists
- Physician assistants
- Occupational therapists
- Speech-language pathologists
- Therapists
- Nurse practitioners
- Dental hygienists
- Diagnostic medical sonographers
- Psychiatric technicians
- Surgical technologists
- Veterinary technologists and technicians
- Emergency medical technicians
- Paramedics
- Surgeons
- Respiratory therapists
- Veterinarians
- Medical records specialists
- Health technologists and technicians
- Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations
- Physicians and surgeons
- Diagnostic related technologists and technicians
- Emergency medical technicians and paramedics
- Health practitioner support technologists and technicians
- Medical records and health information technicians
- Health diagnosing and treating practitioners
- Architecture and engineering occupations
- Civil engineers
- Engineers
- Engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters
- Architects, except landscape and naval
- Industrial engineers, including health and safety
- Aerospace engineers
- Chemical engineers
- Computer hardware engineers
- Electrical and electronics engineers
- Mechanical engineers
- Drafters
- Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians
- Surveying and mapping technicians
- Materials engineers
- Landscape architects
- Surveyors, cartographers, and photogrammetrists
- Agricultural engineers
- Bioengineers and biomedical engineers
- Environmental engineers
- Marine engineers and naval architects
- Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers
- Nuclear engineers
- Petroleum engineers
- Architectural and civil drafters
- Architects, except naval
- Drafters
- Engineering technicians, except drafters
- Biomedical engineers
- Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations
- Graphic designers
- Designers
- Producers and directors
- Public relations specialists
- Artists and related workers
- Coaches and scouts
- Interior designers
- Editors
- Writers and authors
- Broadcast, sound, and lighting technicians
- Television, video, and film camera operators and editors
- Interpreters and translators
- Photographers
- Commercial and industrial designers
- Fashion designers
- Floral designers
- Merchandise displayers and window trimmers
- Actors
- Athletes and sports competitors
- Umpires, referees, and other sports officials
- Dancers and choreographers
- Music directors and composers
- Musicians and singers
- Disc jockeys, except radio
- Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers
- Broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys
- News analysts, reporters, and journalists
- Technical writers
- Court reporters and simultaneous captioners
- Media and communication workers
- Media and communication equipment workers
- Designers
- Athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers
- Broadcast and sound engineering technicians and radio operators
- News analysts, reporters and correspondents
- Musicians, singers, and related workers
- Announcers
- Media and communication workers
- Television, video, and motion picture camera operators and editors