Despite Progress, Pay Gap for Women Persists In New York

Median earnings for full-time working women in New York state were 86 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2019, an annual wage gap of over $8,800.

That’s according to a new analysis by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

The wage gap in New York was smaller than the national average wage gap of over $10,000.

New York ranked 11^th best among the states in terms of the dollar value gap and 7^th best in terms of share, meaning New York women take home more dollars relative to men in most other states.

“March is Women’s History Month and there is no better time to highlight this unfair pay disparity in the workforce,” DiNapoli said. “My analysis shows our country still has a long way to go in closing the gap between full-time working men and women. While New York has done better than most states, more can and should be done. Policies to expand childcare and improve pay transparency should be part of any multi-faceted approach to achieve equal pay.”

While the national gender pay gap has improved from 60 cents in the 1960s, it has remained about 80 cents since 2015.

DiNapoli says In New York, the gap has widened since 2015, with the ratio of women’s earnings compared to men’s earnings dropping from almost 89 percent in 2015 to 86 percent in 2019.

DiNapoli’s analysis, includes:

• Women’s median earnings as a percentage of men’s median earnings;
• Median earnings gender pay gap, U.S. and New York, 2015-2019;
• New York’s gender gap by occupation and educational attainment; and
• New York’s gender gap by race and ethnicity and age.

You can read DiNapoli's complete analysis on the Comptroller's website.