Quantifying America’s Gender Wage Gap
Among Key Groups
SEPTEMBER 2016
America’s women and families continue to suffer from a persistent and pervasive genderbased wage gap. Just-released data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal the typical size of
that gap for women who hold full-time, year-round jobs, as well as for key subgroups of
women who hold full-time, year-round jobs.
America’s Women and the Wage Gap
Overall, women in the United States are typically paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to
men. The median annual pay for a woman who holds a full-time, year-round job is $40,742
while the median annual pay for a man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $51,212 – a
difference of $10,470 per year.1
Lost wages mean women have less money to save for the future or to spend on basic goods
and services for their families. For example, if the annual wage gap were eliminated, a
typical working woman in the United States would have enough money to pay for
approximately:
 78 more weeks of food – 1.5 years’ worth;2
 Seven more months of mortgage and utilities payments;3 or
 11 more months of rent.4
African American Women and the Wage Gap
African American women are typically paid just 63 cents for every dollar paid to white, nonHispanic men. The median annual pay for an African American woman in the United
States who holds a full-time, year-round job is $36,203 while the median annual pay for a
white, non-Hispanic man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $57,204 – a difference of
$21,001 per year.5
Latinas and the Wage Gap
Latinas are typically paid just 54 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
The median annual pay for a Latina in the United States who holds a full-time, year-round
job is $31,109 while the median annual pay for a white, non-Hispanic man who holds a fulltime, year-round job is $57,204 – a difference of $26,095 per year.6
Asian Women and the Wage Gap
Asian women are typically paid just 85 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic
men. The median annual pay for an Asian woman in the United States who holds a full1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW | Suite 650 | Washington, DC 20009
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time, year-round job is $48,471 while the median annual pay for a white, non-Hispanic man
who holds a full-time, year-round job is $57,204 – a difference of $8,733 per year.7 For some
ethnic subgroups of Asian women, the gap is much larger.
Unmarried Women and the Wage Gap
Unmarried women are typically paid 95 cents for every dollar paid to unmarried men. The
median annual pay for an unmarried woman in the United States who holds a full-time,
year-round job is $35,649 while the median annual pay for an unmarried man who holds a
full-time, year-round job is $37,548 – a difference of $1,899 per year.8
The gap between the wages of unmarried women and married men is even larger – a
difference of $25,686 per year. The median annual pay for a married man in the United
States who holds a full-time, year-round job is $61,335. This means that unmarried women
who hold full-time, year-round jobs are typically paid just 58 cents for every dollar paid to
married men who do.
Young Women and the Wage Gap
Even America’s youngest women workers experience a substantial gender wage gap. In fact,
young women (age 15 through 24) in the United States who hold full-time, year-round jobs
are typically paid 91 cents for every dollar paid to young men who do. The median annual pay
for a young woman who holds a full-time, year-round job is $24,139 while the median annual
pay for a young man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $26,503 – a difference of $2,364
per year.9
1 U.S. Census Bureau. (2016). Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement: Table PINC-05: Work Experience in 2015 – People 15 Years Old and Over
by Total Money Earnings in 2015, Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Disability Status. Retrieved 13 September 2016, from http://www.census.gov/data/tables/timeseries/demo/income-poverty/cps-pinc/pinc-05.html (Unpublished calculation based on the median annual pay for all women and men who worked full time, year-round in 2015)
2 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2016, August). Consumer Expenditure Survey, Table 1800. Region of Residence: Annual expenditure means, shares, standard errors, and coefficient
of variation, 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2016, from http://www.bls.gov/cex/2015/combined/region.pdf (Calculation uses overall average “food” cost)
3 U.S. Census Bureau. (2016). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2015, Table GCT2511: Median Monthly Housing Costs for Owner-Occupied Housing Units with a
Mortgage (Dollars) – United States – States; and Puerto Rico. Retrieved 15 September 2016, from
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_1YR_GCT2511.US01PR&prodType=table (Calculation uses median monthly housing
costs for owner-occupied housing units with a mortgage)
4 U.S. Census Bureau. (2016). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2015, Table GCT2514: Median Monthly Housing Costs for Renter-Occupied Housing Units (Dollars) –
United States – States; and Puerto Rico. Retrieved 15 September 2016, from
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_1YR_GCT2514.US01PR&prodType=table (Calculation uses median gross rent)
5 See note 1.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid. Despite an overall wage gap for Asian women in the United States that is smaller than for other groups of women of color, analysis by the National Asian Pacific American
Women’s Forum shows there are substantial variations in the wage gap between particular ethnic groups of Asian women and white, non-Hispanic men, with many
subpopulations of Asian women facing significantly greater wage penalties. For more information, see: https://napawf.org/2016/03/how-the-model-minority-myth-impactshow-we-see-the-wage-gap-for-aapi-women
8 U.S. Census Bureau. (2016). Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement: PINC-02. Marital Status – People 18 Years Old and Over, by Total Money
Income, Work Experience, Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Sex. Retrieved 13 September 2016, from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cpspinc/pinc-02.html (Unpublished calculation based on the median annual pay for unmarried women, unmarried men and married men who worked full time, year-round in 2015)
9 U.S. Census Bureau. (2016). Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement: Table PINC-05: Work Experience in 2015 – People 15-24 Years Old, by
Total Money Earnings Work Experience in 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2016, from http://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-pinc/pinc-05.html
(Unpublished calculation based on the median annual pay for women and men ages 15-24 who worked full time, year-round in 2015)
The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, access to quality health care and
policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. More information is available at NationalPartnership.org.
© 2016 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN & FAMILIES | FACT SHEET | QUANTIFYING AMERICA’S GENDER WAGE GAP
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