Memphis-area women earned 83 percent of their male counterparts in the workplace from 2000-2019, according to new research from the Pew Research Center.
The pay gap in Memphis narrowed during that time, according to the research gathered from census records, based largely on the fact that pay for men in the area fell over those 19 years.
For all male workers 16 years old and older, median annual income fell from about $54,000 to around $47,800. Income for males in the 30-49 age bracket fell sharpest here, from a median of about $58,500 to about $49,600.
Pay for all female workers fell slightly from 2000 to 2019. Pew says the median annual income for women in 2000 was around $40,000 and fell to about $39,600 in 2019.
The city’s gender pay gap (83 percent) was one point above the national average of 82 percent. For the gap, Memphis ranked the city 86th out of the 250 metros Pew studied for the report.
See results from more metros here.
Napa, California, where women make 98 percent of that of their male counterparts, ranked at the top nationally. The Houma/Thibodaux area of Lousiana, where women earn 58 percent of males, ranked last.
However, Pew reports that wages for women are catching up across the country.
