Business

Younger women now earn at least as much as or more than men in 22 metro areas

But wage gaps grow as working women age, corresponding to life events such as child rearing, a new report finds

By Aaron Gregg and Jacob Bogage
Yesterday at 7:05 p.m. EDT

Younger women have closed the pay gap or are outpacing their male counterparts in nearly two dozen U.S. metropolitan areas, according to research published Monday, as gains in higher education and more transparency about what people earn help defy entrenched disparities.

According to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data, women younger than 30, on average, earn at least as much as or more than men in D.C., New York, Los Angeles and 19 other major metro areas ― places where strong job markets attract educated young people looking to build careers. Nationwide, women 30 and younger earn 93 cents for every dollar made by a comparable man.

But when you include all women who works full time and year-round, that number drops to 82 cents, according to the research, which tracked data from 2015 to 2019. That marks a small but steady improvement from a decade earlier, when women were making 77 cents to the dollar.

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By Aaron Gregg
Aaron Gregg is a business reporter focused on corporate accountability and the intersection of business and government. Twitter https://twitter.com/Post_AG

By Jacob Bogage
Jacob Bogage writes about business and technology for The Post, where he has worked since 2015. He previously covered the automotive and manufacturing industries and wrote for the Sports section. Twitter https://twitter.com/jacobbogage