Women earn about 80% of what men make for comparable jobs, but while the pay gap is getting worse in some U.S. cities, some cities stand out in achieving equitable pay, according to a new report.
Personal finance website Smart Asset studied 150 U.S. cities and found that many of them have been able to make strides in closing the gender gap when it comes to salaries.
Yet the report also noted that there's still a long way to go. For example, only two cities on the list could boast that salaries for women are at least equal to men's pay, the report said. And one of those cities, Dallas, didn't crack the top 10 because median salaries were too low. And 89 of the cities studied saw women's earnings decrease as a percent of men's pay.
"The pay gap remains a very real struggle for women around the U.S.," the report said. "This, in turn, significantly hurts their ability to save enough to meet their financial goals."
Using data covering 2015 to 2017, SmartAsset looked at the median earnings for women, growth in women’s earnings, women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s and the change in women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s.
The following, in ascending order, are SmartAsset's top cities for women's pay:
10. Chandler, Ariz.
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 83.7%
This city saw the largest growth in women's earnings between 2015 and 2017 among all 150 cities studied, with a 20% increase. Women also saw a 15% increase in earnings as a percentage of men's pay—also the biggest jump of all cities. But women in the still only make 83.7% of what men make, which is lowest among the top 25 cities.
9. Houston
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 95.8%
Growth in women’s earnings from 2015 to 2017 was 11.5%, which ranked in the top 20, and women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s went up 6%.
8. Arlington, Texas
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 92.1%
Women’s earnings grew more than 14% from 2015 to 2017, the ninth-highest rate among the cities studied. Women's pay as a percentage of men's went up 7.6%.
7. Boston
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 93.4%
Women’s earnings grew almost 7% from 2015 to 2017. Women in the city make a median salary of $55,002, which ranks 10th among the cities studied.
6. Madison, Wis.
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 87.4%
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s increased more than 10% in Madison from 2015 to 2017, but the city's 87.4% pay gap is still the second-widest among the top 10 cities.
5. Austin, Texas
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 93.2%
Median earnings for women have grown more than 16% between from 2015 to 2017 and women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s increased by 5.4% from 2015 to 2017.
4. Glendale, Calif.
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 92.8%
Women’s earnings increased nearly 11% between 2015 and 2017, and earnings as a percentage of men increased by 8.8%.
3. Richmond, Va.
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 98.5%
Median earnings for women grew 16.4% growth in women’s earnings between 2015 and 2017, which is the fourth-highest in the study.
2. Oakland, Calif.
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 103%
One of only two cities studied where women's pay is at least equal to men's, women in Oakland actually make a little more, with their pay as a percentage of men's at 103%.
1. San Francisco
Women's pay as a percent of men's: 90.9%
The city took the top spot largely because women here have a median salary of $76,568, which was the highest in the study. There still is a gender pay gap in the city, however, with women making 90.9% of what men make.
The full report can be viewed here.
