Does your hometown support working women? Or are women still being underpaid compared to men?
We analyzed over 130,000 resumes of recent jobseekers using our ValueMyResume machine learning algorithm, to reveal the average earning potential of men and women in different locations and expose the gender pay divide.
These cities and states are the worst offenders.
Salt Lake City has the worst gender pay gap
The capital of western state Utah is the worst offending city, being home to a 43.9% gender pay gap. Men in SLC take home average earnings of $80,423, but women can earn just $45,132 on average, significantly lower.
This is also much higher than the average gender pay gap for the US, which is 31.3%, showing Salt Lake has a big job to do to create pay parity for women.
Austin in Texas has the second biggest gender pay gap at 41.0%. Male Austinites currently receive average pay of $85,492, compared to just $50,480 for women in the city.
Miami may be the only major US city to have been founded by a woman, but it still has the third biggest gender pay gap. Julia Tuttle, otherwise known as the ‘Mother of Miami’, was a business woman and citrus farmer who moved to Biscayne Bay in the 1890s, purchasing 640 acres of land in what is now Miami and lobbying for a railroad to be extended to the area. We’re pretty sure Julia wouldn’t be happy to find Miami so high up our list, with women in the city earning just $47,582 compared to $75,940 for men, a gap of 37.3%.
Burgeoning local tech scenes may be one reason behind some of the cities seeing larger pay gaps. Both Austin and Miami are seeing an influx of tech businesses relocating from the Bay Area in search of a lower cost of living. The tech giant Oracle is moving its HQ from Redwood City in California to Austin. Meanwhile Miami Mayor, Francis Suarez has been courting top tech executives to promote his city’s tech scene. Tech expansion is bringing more well-paid jobs into these cities, but the sector is still heavily male-dominated which may be worsening local gender pay gaps.
Raleigh is the best city for women
Thankfully, not all US cities are so imbalanced. The capital of North Carolina, Raleigh, is known for its universities which make up the prestigious ‘Research Triangle’. More than that though, it’s also the city paying women most fairly. In Raleigh, women earn $63,963 compared to men earning $69,302. There’s still a gender pay gap, but it’s just 7.7% and streets ahead of most other cities.
Two other cities doing a good job of supporting women are Memphis and New Orleans, seeing pay gaps of just 13.8% and 14.6% respectively.
What’s the gender pay gap like in your city? Search below to find out.
Table 1: Gender pay gap across major US cities
| City | Average female salary | Average male salary | Gender pay gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | $63,963 | $69,302 | 7.7% |
| Memphis | $43,562 | $50,538 | 13.8% |
| New Orleans | $45,924 | $53,757 | 14.6% |
| Providence | $51,312 | $62,253 | 17.6% |
| San Antonio | $45,631 | $57,663 | 20.9% |
| Oklahoma City | $43,594 | $56,449 | 22.8% |
| Baltimore | $56,903 | $74,341 | 23.5% |
| Seattle | $57,795 | $76,040 | 24.0% |
| San Diego | $54,212 | $71,532 | 24.2% |
| Nashville | $44,611 | $59,192 | 24.6% |
| Cleveland | $47,354 | $63,233 | 25.1% |
| Cincinnati | $48,288 | $64,491 | 25.1% |
| Richmond | $50,799 | $68,250 | 25.6% |
| Kansas City | $49,970 | $67,516 | 26.0% |
| Jacksonville | $43,622 | $59,000 | 26.1% |
| Atlanta | $53,116 | $72,278 | 26.5% |
| Las Vegas | $41,660 | $57,127 | 27.1% |
| Chicago | $51,666 | $71,134 | 27.4% |
| Sacramento | $47,945 | $66,128 | 27.5% |
| Los Angeles | $56,887 | $78,537 | 27.6% |
| Tampa | $49,578 | $68,535 | 27.7% |
| San Francisco | $67,137 | $92,986 | 27.8% |
| Portland | $51,668 | $71,839 | 28.1% |
| Pittsburgh | $48,533 | $67,822 | 28.4% |
| Virginia Beach | $41,618 | $58,684 | 29.1% |
| Orlando | $43,344 | $61,465 | 29.5% |
| New York | $57,720 | $81,970 | 29.6% |
| Philadelphia | $50,745 | $72,578 | 30.1% |
| Detroit | $49,828 | $71,653 | 30.5% |
| Buffalo | $44,588 | $64,131 | 30.5% |
| Denver | $56,667 | $81,609 | 30.6% |
| Hartford | $55,835 | $80,592 | 30.7% |
| Riverside | $42,324 | $62,166 | 31.9% |
| Phoenix | $49,194 | $72,687 | 32.3% |
| Houston | $51,521 | $76,946 | 33.0% |
| Charlotte | $47,531 | $70,999 | 33.1% |
| Milwaukee | $48,984 | $73,189 | 33.1% |
| Dallas | $51,675 | $78,066 | 33.8% |
| San Jose | $79,229 | $120,006 | 34.0% |
| Indianapolis | $46,301 | $70,754 | 34.6% |
| Minneapolis | $57,426 | $88,181 | 34.9% |
| San Juan | $38,410 | $59,168 | 35.1% |
| Washington | $65,568 | $101,762 | 35.6% |
| Grand Rapids | $38,856 | $60,785 | 36.1% |
| Miami | $47,582 | $75,940 | 37.3% |
| Austin | $50,480 | $85,492 | 41.0% |
| Salt Lake City | $45,132 | $80,423 | 43.9% |
Best and worst states for the gender pay gap
Our Adzuna data team also analyzed which states are the worst offenders when it comes to paying women fairly.
Upper Midwest located North Dakota has the biggest gender pay gap, with men taking home 54.0% more than women with average pay packets of $83,716 compared to just $38,539.
Montana, Utah, and Virginia were the states with the next biggest pay gaps, at 43.8%, 39.8% and 37.8% respectively.
By comparison, fellow Midwest state Iowa has the smallest gap, with women receiving average salaries of $64,418 compared to the male average earnings of $72,218. Our analysis of job seeker resumes finds Iowan women have one of the highest average earning potentials of any state.
Hawaii (16.7%) and Delaware (17.9%) follow close behind with the second and third smallest state gender pay gaps.
If you’d like to see how your own earning potential compares to your city or state, check out ValueMyResume.
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