You've probably heard the statistic: For every dollar a man earns, a woman doing comparable work makes only 77 cents. That goes for full-time, year-round employees.
But a new study shows that the wage gap can grow or shrink depending on where you live. According to a report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research, Florida is home to three of the metro areas where women's pay come closest to that of men--albeit still not equal.
Check out the top 10. The numbers represent women's pay as a percentage of men's pay.
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California: 91.4
- Fresno, California: 89.1
- North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota: 87.5
- Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada: 87.0
- Stockton, California: 87.0
- McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas: 86.5
- El Paso, Texas: 85.6
- San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas: 85.5
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach: 85.4
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater: 84.8
Of course, nearly-equal pay doesn't necessarily mean good pay.
"A low-wage gap can just mean shared misery," Ariane Hegewisch, a study director for the Institute for Women's Policy Research, told USA Today. The article points out another sobering fact:
Many of these areas have a higher concentration of low-wage jobs in sectors such as maintenance and food preparation, which also tend to pay women and men more equitably.
April 9 was Equal Pay Day, which represents how far into the year women would have to work in order to catch up to what their male counterparts earned the previous year.
