U.S. Cities With the Largest Gender Pay Gaps in 2026

Key Findings

• Women in the United States earn 21% less per hour than men on average, based on an analysis of the American Community Survey.
• In 97% of the largest U.S. metro areas (166 out of 170), women’s average hourly wages are lower than men’s.
• Huntsville, Alabama; Greensboro–High Point, North Carolina; and Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, Texas have the largest gender pay gaps among major U.S. metros, with women earning more than 50% less per hour than men in each location.
• Women earn less per hour than men in every U.S. state, with the widest gaps observed in Washington, D.C., North Dakota, Alabama, Texas, and Utah.
• Across 588 occupations, women earn less per hour than men in nearly 90% of roles. 
• The most significant occupational pay gaps are found in public relations management, podiatry, and housekeeping supervision, with substantial disparities also appearing in medical professions, chief executive roles, and financial occupations.

The gender pay gap remains one of the most persistent economic inequalities in America. It continues to shape outcomes for women in business, but its impact varies dramatically depending on where they live.

Using American Community Survey data, we examined gender pay gaps across 170 of the largest U.S. metro areas, all 50 states, and 588 occupations. On average, women today earn 21 percent less per hour than men nationwide, but in some cities and professions, the pay gap exceeds 50 percent!. 

Let’s explore where this issue crops up the most, and why the gender pay gap still exists in 2026. 

What U.S. Cities Have the Largest Gender Pay Gap? 

Huntsville, Alabama, had the largest gender pay gap among the 170 largest U.S. metros analyzed. Women earned 79 percent less per hour than men on average, a difference of $104.97 per hour.

Nationally, women earn $31.06 per hour on average, compared to $39.31 per hour for men. This is a difference of $8.25 per hour, or 21 percent less than what men earn per hour. However, the difference between men’s and women’s wages varies widely across the country. 

U.S. Metros With the Largest Gender Pay Gaps

By percentage difference between women’s and men’s average hourly wages

The cities with the largest gender pay gaps are primarily located in the South and West, where men often dominate high-paying STEM, energy, and executive roles. In these metros, women earn between 30 percent and 80 percent less per hour than men on average. 

1. Huntsville, Alabama 

• Average hourly wage for women: $27.80
• Average hourly wage for men: $132.78
• Average annual salary for women: $47,795.53
• Average annual salary for men: $75,646.63

2. Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina

• Average hourly wage for women: $25.27
• Average hourly wage for men: $55.94
• Average annual salary for women: $42,139.22
• Average annual salary for men: $58,491.27

3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas

• Average hourly wage for women: $30.31
• Average hourly wage for men: $63.06
• Average annual salary for women: $52,043.80
• Average annual salary for men: $74,763.84

4. Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT

• Average hourly wage for women: $24.24
• Average hourly wage for men: $38.53
• Average annual salary for women: $33,326.20
• Average annual salary for men: $70,232.61

5. Yakima, Washington

• Average hourly wage for women: $25.48
• Average hourly wage for men: $39.44
• Average annual salary for women: $39,796.29
• Average annual salary for men: $51,650.69

Where Do Women Earn More Than Men?

Women earn more than men (per hour) in just four U.S. metros out of the 170 we analyzed: 

1. Cleveland, Ohio: women earn 28.4 percent more than men per hour ($10.24)
2. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC: women earn 13.2 percent more than men per hour ($3.70) 
3. Eugene-Springfield, OR: women earn 3.9 percent more than men per hour ($1.19) 
4. Columbia, SC: women earn 1.2  percent more than men per hour ($0.37)

Though women’s average hourly earnings are more than men’s in these cities, women’s annual earnings are still lower than men’s. The disconnect between hourly and yearly earnings could be due to several factors, such as women working fewer hours per week, taking more unpaid leave to support family members, and having more career interruptions. 

What States Have the Largest Gender Pay Gaps? 

In every state, women earn less than men on average, but some states have broader gaps than others. For example, southern and southwestern states tended to have larger gender pay gaps. Alabama shows a 44 percent hourly pay gap between women and men; Texas, 34 percent; Louisiana, 26 percent; and Georgia, 23 percent.

States With the Largest Gender Pay Gaps

By percentage difference between women’s and men’s average hourly wages

Why Do Gender Pay Gaps Differ by Location?

Several complex demographic and socioeconomic factors create varying gender pay gaps across U.S. cities and states. Here are just a few contributing factors driving the differences:

1. Industry composition

Cities and states with high concentrations of STEM or tech jobs often show larger gaps when women are underrepresented. According to the National Science Foundation, women made up only 35 percent of the STEM workforce in 2021. A 2024 study found that women software engineers in tech hubs are offered lower starting salaries than men 63 percent of the time for the same role at the same company.

Energy boom states like North Dakota see wider gaps because high-paying extraction jobs go to men, while support jobs don’t see equivalent wage growth. Agricultural regions face similar patterns, with women concentrated in lower-paid processing roles.

2. Occupational segregation

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 40 percent of employed women work in occupations that are at least 75 percent female, while only six percent work in professions that are at least 75 percent male. But the bigger problem is within-occupation gaps: Harvard economist Claudia Goldin found that two-thirds of the gender pay gap comes from women earning less than men in the same occupations, not just from working in different fields.

3. The “child penalty”

Research by Henrik Kleven, Camille Landais, and Jakob Søgaard found that women’s earnings drop approximately 20 percent after their first child and never fully recover, while men’s earnings remain unaffected. 

4. Part-time work and caregiving

Another factor contributing to pay gaps between men and women is schedule differences: Women are significantly more likely than men to work part-time, often due to caregiving responsibilities and workplace policies affecting work-life balance. Part-time workers tend to earn lower hourly wages and miss out on benefits, bonuses, and advancement opportunities.

5. Local policies and union density

Policy environments, which vary widely across cities and states, significantly shape gaps. At a minimum, employers must comply with the Equal Pay Act, which prohibit wage discrimination based on sex. However, pay transparency laws, which aren’t required on the national level, can reduce gender wage gaps by two to three percentage points. 

Other studies show that women covered by union contracts earn $203 per week more than non-unionized women, a 22 percent increase. This explains some of the regional patterns shown above: Union density in Southern states is far less than in Northeastern states.

What Jobs Have the Worst Gender Pay Gaps? 

In nearly 90 percent of the 588 occupations we analyzed, women’s average hourly pay was less than men’s.  Overall, women’s hourly wages tend to be lower than men’s, but some jobs exhibit extreme pay discrepancies. We’ll explore a few of those fields below. 

50 Occupations With the Largest Gender Pay Gaps

Public relations and fundraising managers 

The extraordinary 87 percent hourly gap for public relations and fundraising managers is particularly puzzling given that women make up the majority of workers in these fields. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, women represent approximately 63 percent of public relations specialists.

This paradox illustrates what researchers call the “feminization penalty.”Research published in Social Forces found that as occupations become more female-dominated, their relative pay actually decreases — even when controlling for education requirements, skill demands, and working conditions.

Medical occupations 

Several medical occupations appear in the worst-gap list despite requiring extensive education and training.Research from the Journal of the American Medical Association has extensively documented gender pay gaps throughout medicine. A 2018 JAMA study found that among physicians, men earned approximately $90,000 more annually than women even after adjusting for age, experience, specialty, and practice characteristics.

Chief executive officers

Chief executives and legislators show a 49 percent hourly gap ($77.39 per hour less for women), translating into an annual difference of $50,654. While women hold just eight percent of CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies, they earn far less than men when they do get into the C-suite.

Financial occupations 

Several financial roles in our analysis, such as financial managers, specialists, clerks, and credit analysts, had significant gender pay gaps. Research from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found that women financial advisors manage smaller books of business and have fewer high-net-worth clients than their male counterparts — not because of performance differences, but because of how clients are assigned and how referral networks operate.

Race, Ethnicity, and Age Compound Gender Wage Gaps

Research from the National Women’s Law Center documented that while all women face wage gaps, women of color face both gender-based and race-based discrimination simultaneously. The data we analyzed from the American Community Survey also clearly shows the pay inconsistencies between women of different ethnicities. 

Compared to all American men:

• Native American women earn 41 percent less per hour ($16)
• Hispanic women earn 38 percent less per hour ($15)
• Biracial women earn 32 percent less per hour ($13)
• White women earn 18 percent less per hour ($7)
• Japanese women earn two percent less per hour ($0.83)
• Chinese women earn 12 percent more per hour ($5) 

Women in different age groups also have varying degrees of pay differences with men. Younger women (ages 18-29) experience the widest hourly pay gap, earning $16.82 per hour less than all men. This translates to $39,005 less annually. 

Women of Different Ages Compared to All Men

The gap narrows for women ages 30-44 and 45-59, then narrows further for women aged 60 or older. However, the annual pay gap for older women jumps dramatically to 31 percent, reflecting that older women are significantly more likely to work part-time or have interrupted work histories.

Methodology 

This analysis examines gender-based wage differences in the United States using microdata from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) for 2021-2024. All results are weighted using the ACS’s official person weights to ensure findings are nationally representative of the U.S. workforce. 

The study includes only employed individuals, excluding those not participating in the labor force, to ensure that all comparisons reflect active workers across both early- and late-career stages.

Gender pay gaps were measured using two wage metrics:

• Annual earnings, based on respondents’ reported wage and salary income from the prior year
• Estimated hourly wages, calculated by dividing annual earnings by usual hours worked per week and weeks worked per year

These measures allow for consistent comparisons across full-time and part-time work patterns. Pay gaps are expressed as the percentage difference between women’s and men’s average wages.

In addition to national-level comparisons, the analysis evaluates how gender pay gaps vary by race, ethnicity, age group, and veteran status. These demographic comparisons include both direct comparisons between men and women within the same group and comparisons of women in specific demographic groups to all men overall.

The report also analyzes wage differences across 588 occupations, major industry sectors, U.S. states, and the 170 most populous metropolitan areas, using 2023 Census metropolitan definitions. Geographic comparisons reflect aggregate wage differences between all employed women and all employed men within each location.