The current gender wage gap in America, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), sits at slightly less than 82%. That means the average working woman earns 82% of what the average working man earns, which hurts not only women’s ability to earn but also their ability to save. That number is up 20 percentage points since 1979, though still far from ideal. According to data from the BLS, there was almost no progress in gender pay parity from 2005 to 2017.And when you look at occupation-specific data, the numbers can be even worse. Below, we dig into the occupation data to rank the occupations with the largest and smallest gender pay gap.
In order to rank the occupations with the largest and smallest gender pay gap, we looked at data for two metrics. We compared the median weekly earnings for men and women in each occupation. This allowed us to calculate women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings, the figure we used to rank the occupations. The Data and Methodology section below shows our sources and how we put the data together to create our final rankings.
Key Findings
- Women aren’t often the boss, but when they are, they aren’t paid well – Chief executive ranked as the occupation with the fifth-largest gender pay gap. The average female chief executive earns less than 70% of what the average male chief executive does. The average female CEO makes $90,300 per year compared to the $129,400 that a male CEO makes. Of the nearly 1.1 million chief executives in America, only 307,000 are female.
- Pay gap is larger in higher-income occupations – The 10 occupations with the largest pay gap have average weekly earnings of $985 for women and $1,440 for men. For the 10 occupations with the smallest pay gap, average weekly earnings are $815 for women and $805 for men.
- Women make less in sales – The category of “Securities, commodities and financial services sales agents” ranks first while “Real estate brokers and sales agents” and “Retail salespersons” also make it into the top 10. If we include more general sales occupations like “All other sales and related workers” and “All other service sales representatives,” sales jobs dominate the top of the pay gap charts.
Occupations With the Largest Pay Gap
1. Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents
Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,047
Men’s median weekly earnings: $1,639
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 63.88%
2. Credit counselors and loan officers
Women’s median weekly earnings: $948
Men’s median weekly earnings: $1,443
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 65.70%
3. Physicians and surgeons
Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,677
Men’s median weekly earnings: $2,513
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 66.73%
4. Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
Women’s median weekly earnings: $559
Men’s median weekly earnings: $829
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 67.43%
5. Chief executives
Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,736
Men’s median weekly earnings: $2,488
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 69.77%
6. Real estate brokers and sales agents
Women’s median weekly earnings: $883
Men’s median weekly earnings: $1,264
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 69.86%
7. Financial managers
Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,262
Men’s median weekly earnings: $1,784
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 70.74%
8. First-line supervisors of production and operating workers
Women’s median weekly earnings: $745
Men’s median weekly earnings: $1,050
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 70.95%
9. Retail salespersons
Women’s median weekly earnings: $543
Men’s median weekly earnings: $764
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 71.07%
10. Taxi drivers and chauffeurs
Women’s median weekly earnings: $450
Men’s median weekly earnings: $628
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 71.66%
Occupations With the Smallest Pay Gap
1. Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products
Women’s median weekly earnings: $880
Men’s median weekly earnings: $878
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 100.23%
2. Cashiers
Women’s median weekly earnings: $463
Men’s median weekly earnings: $468
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 98.93%
3. Customer service representatives
Women’s median weekly earnings: $680
Men’s median weekly earnings: $689
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 98.69%
4. Physical therapists
Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,387
Men’s median weekly earnings: $1,410
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 98.37%
5. Postal service clerks
Women’s median weekly earnings: $771
Men’s median weekly earnings: $758
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 101.72%
6. Stock clerks and order fillers
Women’s median weekly earnings: $570
Men’s median weekly earnings: $558
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 102.15%
7. Receptionists and information clerks
Women’s median weekly earnings: $606
Men’s median weekly earnings: $593
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 102.19%
8. Editors
Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,138
Men’s median weekly earnings: $1,104
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 103.08%
9. Paralegals and legal assistants
Women’s median weekly earnings: $953
Men’s median weekly earnings: $917
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 103.93%
10. Office clerks, general
Women’s median weekly earnings: $701
Men’s median weekly earnings: $670
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 104.63%
Top 5 Occupations Where Women Outearn Men
1. Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food
Women’s median weekly earnings: $475
Men’s median weekly earnings: $410
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 115.85%
2. Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks
Women’s median weekly earnings: $766
Men’s median weekly earnings: $681
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 112.48%
3. Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians
Women’s median weekly earnings: $911
Men’s median weekly earnings: $819
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 111.23%
4. Advertising sales agents
Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,053
Men’s median weekly earnings: $950
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 110.84%
5. Billing and posting clerks
Women’s median weekly earnings: $725
Men’s median weekly earnings: $664
Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings: 109.19%
In total, there are 12 occupations in our study in which women outearn men.
Data and Methodology
In order to find the occupations with the largest and smallest pay gaps, we looked at data for 126 occupations. Specifically, we looked at the following two factors:
- Median weekly earnings for women. This is the median weekly earnings for women who work full time.
- Median weekly earnings for men. This is the median weekly earnings for men who work full time.
Data for both metrics comes from the BLS and is from 2018.
To rank the occupations, we divided the median weekly earnings for women by the median weekly earnings for men. The result was the median weekly earnings for women as a percentage of median weekly earnings for men. We ranked the occupations from smallest to largest (in other words, the occupations in which women earned the least compared to men).
To rank the occupations with the smallest pay gap, we looked for the occupations in which there was the smallest difference between men’s and women’s earnings as measured by women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings. This means that in some of the occupations with the smallest pay gap, women earn more than men, on average.
For our final rankings, we did not include occupations with the phrases “all other” and “miscellaneous” in them, due to their lack of specificity.
Tips for Improving Your Savings Rate
- Make a budget – To make sure you are spending your money well, you’ll want to break your expenditures into categories. We recommend the 50/30/20 rule of budgeting. According to this plan, you spend 50% of your income on needs like housing and food, spend 30% of your income on wants like a premium subscription to your favorite budgeting app and set aside 20% of your income for savings.
- Find the right account – If you have been using the same savings account you have been using for years, you are likely missing out on quite a lot of money. Online only banks like Ally and Synchrony offer annual percentage yields (APYs) hundreds of times higher than traditional retail banks.
- Find the right advice – To really churn out some passive income, you will need to invest your savings in more than just a high-yield savings account. Teaming up with a financial advisor could be a good way for you to expose yourself to the risks and rewards of the stock market, for example. If you are not sure where to find a financial advisor who fits your profile, check out SmartAsset’s financial advisor matching tool.
Questions about our study? Contact us at press@smartasset.com
Photo credit: ©iStock.com/EmirMemedovski