North American regions where women earn more than men

The North American research and debate institute Pew Research Center analyzed data from the census of U.S and found that Morgantown, the third largest city in the state of Virginia, is one of the few in the country where women earn more than men.

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In the city, the average salary of women working full time is 14% higher than that of men. In addition, Morgantown occupies the second position in the ranking of the 10 North American metropolitan areas where women under 30 years old earn higher wages. The first position goes to the city of Wenatchee, Washington.

The gender pay gap is still large. When we talk about the nation in general, the disparity is an average salary of men 18% higher than that of women. Among the 250 metropolitan regions analyzed, women's wages are better in only 22.

Some factors explain the reasons why women earn more than men in these regions. Pew Research Center senior researcher Richard Fry reported on the matter.

According to the author, the main factor is education. “In metropolitan regions where young women have a greater educational advantage, wage inequality tends to be smaller,” he says. “College degrees tend to increase earnings, reducing the wage gap,” he pointed out.

This variation explains, at least in part, why Virginia's regions make the top 10 list of metropolitan regions with the highest salaries of the female gender in the country, even though in the rest of the country the economic disparity is so great between men and women.

“Morgantown is a college town,” says Fry, “as is Gainesville, Florida… metropolitan regions where there is parity or better wages for women, many are home to large universities”, he said.

According to the researcher, the region has a high demand for jobs that are characterized by higher wages. Furthermore, those women who stay in the region after graduation tend to earn higher wages due to their “educational advantages”.

The educational factor is also what propels the city of Wenatchee, which is in Washington State, to the top of the list. In this region, the average salary for women is 120% higher than for men. “In Washington, I believe 60% of women have a college degree,” says Richard. “So we're really talking about a workforce of well-educated young women in Washington.”

Another point of important influence on the wage gap is the type of job and the industries that dominate some geographic regions. In Wenatchee, the second largest employer is the local schools, and studies show that, in the United States, 75% of education jobs are occupied by women.

When we go to the industries, women occupy less than 30% of the positions. For this reason, in many metropolitan regions, which have the greatest wage disparities, factories are consolidating themselves as the main employers in the region.

“The metro area with the biggest pay gap is Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana, where young women earn only 67% of men's wages,” says Richard. “It is known as the ‘trailer capital of the world,’” he concludes.

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