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News Release Information

18-1510-PHI
Monday, September 17, 2018

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Women’s Earnings in Pennsylvania — 2017

In 2017, Pennsylvania women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $768, or 79.1 percent of the $971 median usual weekly earnings for their male counterparts, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins noted that the women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio in Pennsylvania increased 1.6 percentage points from the previous year. Nationwide, women earned $770 per week, or 81.8 percent of the $941 median for men. (See table 1. Earnings in this release do not control for many factors that can be significant in explaining earnings differences.)

In Pennsylvania, the women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio has ranged from a low of 71.8 percent in 1997 to a high of 81.7 percent in 2012. The ratio had declined in four of the past five years, before increasing in 2017. (See chart 1. Data for the states began in 1997.)

  Chart 1. Womens earnings as a percentage of mens, full-time wage and salary workers, the United States and Pennsylvania, 1997-2017 annual averages

Among the 50 states, median weekly earnings of women in full-time wage and salary positions in 2017 ranged from $643 in Mississippi to $971 in Massachusetts. In addition to Massachusetts, women’s earnings in Alaska, Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey were above $875 per week. In the District of Columbia, women earned a median weekly wage of $1,191. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Median weekly earnings for men were lowest in New Mexico at $771 and highest in Massachusetts at $1,204. Three other states (Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey) had weekly wages above $1,100 for full-time male workers. In the District of Columbia, men earned a median weekly wage of $1,385.

New Mexico had the highest female-to-male earnings ratio among the states, 90.9 percent, and Wyoming had the lowest, 71.6 percent. The District of Columbia had a ratio of 86.0 percent. (See chart 3.) The differences among the states reflect, in part, variation in the occupations and industries found in each state and differences in the demographic composition of each state’s labor force. In addition, sampling error for state estimates is considerably larger than it is for the national estimates. Thus, earnings comparisons between states should be made with caution.


Technical Note

The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. This survey is conducted monthly for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau, using a scientifically selected national sample of about 60,000 eligible households, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The earnings data are collected from one-fourth of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers, both incorporated and unincorporated, are excluded from the data presented in this report.

Statistics based on the CPS data are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. Further information about the reliability of data from the CPS is available on the CPS Technical Documentation page of the BLS website.

The principal concepts and definitions used in connection with the earnings data in this release are described briefly below.

Usual weekly earnings. The data represent earnings before taxes and other deductions and include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received (at the main job in the case of multiple jobholders). Respondents are asked to identify the easiest way for them to report earnings (hourly, weekly, biweekly, twice monthly, monthly, annually, or other) and how much they usually earn in the reported time period. Earnings reported on a basis other than weekly are converted to a weekly equivalent. The term “usual” is determined by each respondent’s own understanding of the term. 

Medians of usual weekly earnings. The earnings estimates shown in this release are medians. The median is the midpoint in a given earnings distribution, with half of workers having earnings above the median and the other half having earnings below the median.

Wage and salary workers. These are workers age 16 and older who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payments in kind, or piece rates on their sole or principal job. This group includes employees in both the public and private sectors. All self-employed workers are excluded whether or not their businesses are incorporated.

Full-time worker. People who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or principal job are defined as working full time for the purpose of these estimates.

For more information on the median weekly earnings of women and men, see Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 1075, Highlights of women’s earnings in 2017, available at www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2017/pdf/home.pdf.

Information in this release will be available to sensory impaired individuals upon request: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by state, 2017 annual averages
State Total Women Men Women’s
earnings as a
percentage
of men’s
Number of
workers
(in thou-
sands)
Median
weekly
earnings
Standard
error of
median
Number of
workers
(in thou-
sands)
Median
weekly
earnings
Standard
error of
median
Number of
workers
(in thou-
sands)
Median
weekly
earnings
Standard
error of
median

United States

113,272 $860 $2 50,291 $770 $3 62,980 $941 $4 81.8

Alabama

1,593 753 14 712 656 17 881 845 25 77.6

Alaska

253 979 18 117 883 27 136 1,090 43 81.0

Arizona

2,283 830 17 970 749 17 1,312 916 26 81.8

Arkansas

1,023 722 13 496 665 15 527 799 23 83.2

California

13,145 913 8 5,620 827 11 7,525 992 11 83.4

Colorado

2,049 918 14 854 838 20 1,195 986 20 85.0

Connecticut

1,290 1,011 19 577 938 40 713 1,102 47 85.1

Delaware

349 840 22 160 785 19 189 905 26 86.7

District of Columbia

311 1,273 30 158 1,191 45 153 1,385 50 86.0

Florida

7,092 768 7 3,312 726 9 3,780 826 14 87.9

Georgia

3,717 775 12 1,736 720 17 1,981 866 29 83.1

Hawaii

497 821 18 234 734 23 263 918 28 80.0

Idaho

568 794 16 230 695 13 338 893 17 77.8

Illinois

4,426 918 12 1,965 791 16 2,460 1,017 17 77.8

Indiana

2,425 805 14 1,075 708 19 1,350 903 28 78.4

Iowa

1,167 825 15 522 738 17 645 907 20 81.4

Kansas

1,040 823 18 459 749 20 581 916 21 81.8

Kentucky

1,477 774 15 676 673 20 801 834 30 80.7

Louisiana

1,498 773 15 673 686 20 825 886 26 77.4

Maine

445 845 24 201 760 23 244 911 22 83.4

Maryland

2,295 1,036 28 1,041 959 37 1,254 1,131 41 84.8

Massachusetts

2,597 1,078 21 1,157 971 18 1,440 1,204 32 80.6

Michigan

3,405 853 16 1,455 765 12 1,950 928 17 82.4

Minnesota

2,128 955 20 937 844 26 1,191 1,026 24 82.3

Mississippi

944 723 13 454 643 18 490 794 25 81.0

Missouri

2,166 826 17 1,006 733 20 1,160 925 27 79.2

Montana

321 800 19 135 713 15 185 883 22 80.7

Nebraska

696 814 16 311 760 23 385 871 28 87.3

Nevada

1,071 746 12 451 675 14 621 808 16 83.5

New Hampshire

512 918 20 225 838 21 287 1,003 25 83.5

New Jersey

3,241 1,016 13 1,486 929 17 1,755 1,138 23 81.6

New Mexico

622 737 13 268 701 16 354 771 22 90.9

New York

7,120 918 9 3,303 850 15 3,817 984 13 86.4

North Carolina

3,574 810 10 1,655 754 13 1,919 874 19 86.3

North Dakota

291 857 18 128 740 18 164 952 18 77.7

Ohio

4,021 832 12 1,801 743 13 2,220 908 15 81.8

Oklahoma

1,308 766 11 554 685 16 754 859 25 79.7

Oregon

1,413 873 23 604 770 24 810 945 22 81.5

Pennsylvania

4,448 869 13 1,985 768 11 2,463 971 17 79.1

Rhode Island

391 897 14 178 833 24 213 956 32 87.1

South Carolina

1,673 799 14 753 696 16 920 898 20 77.5

South Dakota

308 769 13 141 679 15 168 858 19 79.1

Tennessee

2,291 780 15 1,034 704 17 1,257 874 23 80.5

Texas

9,918 813 9 4,243 734 9 5,675 894 11 82.1

Utah

1,044 827 15 394 692 14 650 952 18 72.7

Vermont

227 874 19 103 816 24 124 918 21 88.9

Virginia

3,134 937 18 1,414 844 20 1,720 1,043 33 80.9

Washington

2,538 961 20 1,066 825 22 1,472 1,093 27 75.5

West Virginia

569 747 12 253 670 20 316 830 22 80.7

Wisconsin

2,159 860 13 926 777 18 1,233 936 21 83.0

Wyoming

197 875 21 82 720 17 115 1,006 21 71.6

Note: In general, the sampling error for the state estimates is considerably larger than it is for the national estimates; thus, comparisons of state estimates should be made with caution. Data shown are based on workers’ state of residence; workers’ reported earnings, however, may or may not be from a job located in the same state.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

  Chart 2. Womans median usual weekly earnings, full-time wage and salary workers, by state, 2017 annual averages
  Chart 3. Womens earnings as a percentage of mens, full-time wage and salary workers, by state, 2017 annual averages

 

Last Modified Date: Monday, September 17, 2018