WYOMING — Wyoming’s wage gap remains the largest or nearly the largest in the United States according to a new study from economists at the University of Wyoming (UW).
Anne Alexander and Chian Jones Ritten, who conducted the study found that women make 75 cents for every dollar men make in the Equality State. Overall, women in the U.S. are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men and that gap is the widest for women of color.
In Teton County, the gender wage gap is narrower than the national average: women make 80 cents for every dollar men make.
Their report, “The Wage Gap in Wyoming in 2022: How Gender, Race and Ethnicity Affect Pay Equity,” was released recently by the Wyoming Women’s Foundation in partnership with the Equality State Policy Center and the Wyoming Council for Women. UW’s Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center also provided data assistance in conjunction with Alexander and Jones Ritten’s work.
“…Wyoming consistently ranks last or near last in wage gap analyses, even when adjusted for cost of living and regional prices,” Alexander and Jones Ritten wrote.
The study concluded that this wage gap results in an estimated loss of $1.5 billion to the Wyoming economy annually.
“The average working woman in Wyoming loses enough money during a year from the gender wage gap to buy a total of 108 more weeks of food, 12 more months of mortgage and utilities payments, 21 more months of rent or 8,402 additional gallons of gas.”
The Wage Gap in Wyoming in 2022: How Gender, Race and Ethnicity Affect Pay Equity
The report used data from the American Community Survey microdata that are averaged over the previous five years. The researchers selected this method because, as the report states, it “allows us to include both full- and part-time workers and does not conflate the wage gap with hours worked, since men, on average, work more hours (34.4 per week) than women (32.3 hours per week).” The authors consider this the current most unbiased method of reporting the gap.
“The continuing wage gap for Wyoming women has real and enduring consequences for them and their families in lost long-term wealth and income,” the researchers said. “Eliminating the gender wage gap would provide critical income to families living in poverty and to all households where women are the primary or co-breadwinner. Aiming to eliminate the gender wage gap also would likely increase retirement security, reduce reliance on public assistance, and improve food security and community health for Wyomingites.”
Discussion in the report includes factors associated with the wage gap, consequences of the wage gap for Wyoming, the impacts of COVID-19 on the wage gap and suggestions for how Wyoming can address wage inequality. The report found that more than 90% of the wage gap may be attributed to discrimination.
Alexander is a faculty member in the Department of Economics in UW’s College of Business; she also has an appointment in the College of Arts and Sciences School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies. Jones Ritten is a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in UW’s College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources.
