The topic of the gender pay gap in the U.S. isn’t going away anytime soon. It’s a conversation happening at the dinner table and on the presidential campaign trail. Wage inequality doesn’t seem to be discriminating by profession either. An article by Fast Company says that there is no industry where women earn equal to or more than men overall, even when controlling for all measured compensable factors. The pay disparity becomes even greater at higher-level positions, according to the Wall Street Journal, which examined the pay of 446 major occupations and found that women in many elite jobs earn well below men.
While this may paint a dismal picture for those looking to close the wage gap, the situation looks a little brighter in certain states when looking at the number of female versus male high-earners. We dove into 2014 Census data and found the five U.S. cities with the highest percentage of single females earning $100k or more a year —and those numbers have grown between 2012 and 2014. Not only are there more single females making the six figures and then some, but they are also beating out the number of single men at that pay level!
“In superstar cities across the country, the number of single women making six figures outpaces the number of men,” says Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “That’s a great counterpoint to the disappointing reality that the U.S. is still far from having equal pay between sexes. It must be balanced by the fact that as women marry and have children their earning potential is hampered by rigid employer practices, expensive child care and lack of maternal leave. Regardless of the gender—it’s still really hard to afford a home with only one income in many cities, even if it is in the six figures!”
With more females earning that much more money, we wanted to know what the housing market might look like for someone making $100K+ in each of these cities. So, with the help of the Redfin calculator tool, we found out how much a person could afford at varying levels of income over $100K and then took a look at the housing market in each city to find out just how many homes are available right now that are affordable for those individuals at those income levels.
These are the five cities with the highest percentage of females making at least $100K a year:
1. Washington, D.C.
Percentage of single females making $100K+ a year: 4.05%
Percentage of single males making $100K+ a year: .84%
% of homes in D.C. that are only affordable if you make at least….
- 100K+: 44%
- 200K+: 11%
- 300K+: 19%
2. Boston, MA
Percentage of single females making $100K+ a year: 3.38%
Percentage of single males making $100K+ a year: 1.19%
% of homes in Boston that are only affordable if you make at least….
- 100K+: 38%
- 200K+: 16%
- 300K+: 37%
3. San Francisco, CA
Percentage of single females making $100K+ a year: 2.89%
Percentage of single males making $100K+ a year: 1.44%
% of homes in San Francisco that are only affordable if you make at least….
- 100K+: 12%
- 200K+: 25%
- 300K+: 60%
4. New York, New York
Percentage of single females making $100K+ a year: 2.44%
Percentage of single males making $100K+ a year: 1.39%
% of homes in New York that are only affordable if you make at least….
- 100K+: 43%
- 200K+: 13%
- 300K+: 20%
5. Baltimore, MD
Percentage of single females making $100K+ a year: 2.39%
Percentage of single males making $100K+ a year: .34%
% of homes in Baltimore that are only affordable if you make at least….
- 100K+: 13%
- 200K+: 1%
- 300K+: 1%
United States
Canada