Mapped: America’s Gender Earnings Gap by State

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Key Takeaways

Men earn at least 20% more than women in 13 states, with the widest earnings gaps concentrated in the South and Mountain West.
Louisiana, Utah, and Idaho report some of America’s largest gender earnings gaps, driven partly by male-dominated industries like energy, manufacturing, and technology.
Northeastern and coastal states, including Vermont, New York, and California, tend to show smaller earnings gaps between men and women.

Men working full-time in the U.S. still earn significantly more than women on average, but the size of that earnings gap varies dramatically depending on where Americans live and work.

This map uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) to compare median annual earnings for male and female full-time workers across all 50 states.

While national conversations often focus on equal pay for equal work, economists point out that broader factors like industry mix, occupational concentration, caregiving patterns, and leadership representation also shape statewide earnings differences.

Where the Median Earnings Gap by Gender is Largest

The table below highlights the states with the widest gender earnings gaps and the economic forces behind them.

Rank	State	Median earnings gap ($)	Earnings Gap (%)
1	Utah	18,740	35.9
2	Louisiana	16,746	36.7
3	Idaho	16,147	32.2
4	Washington	14,534	21.6
5	West Virginia	14,392	31.2
6	New Jersey	14,374	21.6
7	Alabama	14,301	30.4
8	North Dakota	14,013	27.1
9	New Hampshire	13,955	22.7
10	Michigan	13,739	26.2
11	District of Columbia	13,661	13.9
12	Connecticut	13,605	20.6
13	Ohio	13,524	26.1
14	Virginia	12,721	20.8
15	Wisconsin	12,518	23.5
16	Wyoming	12,317	24.6
17	Georgia	12,313	23.7
18	Iowa	12,227	23.9
19	Pennsylvania	11,939	21.4
20	Illinois	11,893	20.0
21	Colorado	11,668	17.8
22	Indiana	11,257	22.0
23	Texas	11,148	21.7
24	Missouri	10,927	21.6
25	Oklahoma	10,923	23.8
26	Minnesota	10,913	17.9
27	Kansas	10,962	21.5
28	Alaska	10,798	17.7
29	South Carolina	10,615	21.1
30	Montana	10,589	20.9
31	South Dakota	10,558	20.8
32	Nebraska	10,452	20.3
33	Nevada	10,426	20.7
34	Tennessee	10,388	20.6
35	North Carolina	10,159	19.6
36	Arkansas	10,097	22.4
37	Oregon	10,095	16.7
38	New Mexico	10,070	20.1
39	Arizona	9,969	18.7
40	Mississippi	9,914	22.7
41	Kentucky	9,888	20.1
42	Massachusetts	9,784	13.5
43	Florida	9,638	19.1
44	Maine	8,712	15.5
45	California	8,390	13.2
46	Maryland	8,317	11.7
47	Delaware	7,985	14.0
48	Hawaii	7,608	13.8
49	New York	6,228	9.5
50	Vermont	6,048	9.9

The widest earnings gaps are concentrated in the South and Mountain West, while Northeastern and coastal states generally report smaller differences. Louisiana and Utah stand out at opposite ends of the country, but for surprisingly similar structural reasons.

Stand Out States

Louisiana consistently ranks among the states with the largest gender earnings gaps. A major reason is the state’s concentration of high-paying energy and petrochemical jobs, sectors that remain heavily male-dominated.

Oil, gas, and industrial employers along the Gulf Coast help drive high median earnings for men, while women working full-time are more concentrated in healthcare, education, and administrative support roles that generally pay less on average.

Utah highlights how fast-growing high-income industries can widen earnings gaps when top-paying technical and leadership roles remain disproportionately male. Women working full-time are also more concentrated in clerical, healthcare-support, retail, and service occupations that typically offer lower pay growth.

Research from organizations like the AAUW and Status of Women Data shows that occupational segregation, where men and women cluster in different industries and job types, remains one of the biggest drivers of wage disparities nationwide.

Educated Service Economies Fare Better

At the other end of the spectrum, states like New York, Vermont, Maryland, California, and Massachusetts report some of the narrowest earnings gaps in the country.

States with smaller earnings gaps tend to have larger professional-service economies, higher female college attainment, and more women working in higher-paying occupations. At the same time, extraction industries and heavy manufacturing, which often generate very high wages for men, play a smaller role in the local economy.

In many of these states, women are also more represented in higher-paying professional occupations, including law, finance, medicine, and management. While disparities still exist, the earnings gap narrows when women have greater access to sectors tied to overall wage growth.

Can the Gender Earnings Gap Continue to Narrow?

Importantly, this data measures overall median earnings differences between male and female full-time workers, not unequal pay for the exact same job. Federal law requires equal pay for equal work under many circumstances, including protections enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor.

However, economists and labor researchers point to several broader forces that continue to influence earnings differences. Career interruptions resulting from caregiving responsibilities and unequal representation in leadership positions significantly contribute to the gender earnings gap.

Nonetheless, there are also signs of gradual progress. Younger women now outpace men in college attainment nationally, and the long-term gap has steadily narrowed over time. Expanding access to higher-paying industries and improving representation in leadership roles could help further reduce disparities in the years ahead.

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Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/gender-earnings-gap-by-state-map/

Mapped: America’s Gender Earnings Gap by State