Yes, women make up roughly half the workforce in America, but no, overall, we're still not earning the same as men — only about 81%. But that's the national median, and it figures that in some cities, the gap would be a little smaller or even nonexistent. This list compiled by NerdWallet looks at three factors — gross salary, salary compared to men, and population growth (as an indicator of future economic growth) — to see which cities come out on top for working women today.
In the big-cities category, our very own D.C. made the top spot with highest-median $$ for those with XX chromosomes. We were also pleasantly surprised to find tech centers, a notoriously unbalanced field, San Francisco and San Jose at numbers two and three, respectively. And don't forget runners-up Austin and Dallas. Surprisingly, NYC didn't even earn so much as a mention in the top five.
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D.C. ladies pull in a median salary of $55,688, or that magical 81% of what men earn. San Francisco had a slightly lower median salary, but a smaller wage gap at 84%. That makes sense, considering government salaries in D.C. probably have less wiggle room — though, all told, you might be better off ditching the big city altogether and moving to Chapel Hill, North Carolina (where women make 93% of men's paychecks) or, better yet, Madera-Chowchilla, CA, where you'll only rake in about $33,000 a year, but still enjoy the progressive smugness of making 102% that of men.
Check out the full list here, but don't blame us if you have a sudden desire to move to a tiny town in central California. Read at your own risk!
Image: Via The Huffington Post.