Indiana has one of the worst gender pay gaps in the country and is tied with Mississippi.
A study by the employment law firm Eldessouky Law found Indiana and Mississippi were tied for the seventh highest gender pay gap in the country.
The average salary for a woman in Indiana is $46,435, or about 29.7% less than the average male salary of $60,111 annual, the study found. The average Hoosier woman is paid 77 cents for every dollar the average Hoosier man is paid.
Indiana women filed 218 Equal Pay Act charges between 2013 and 2022, a 33% decrease, the study found.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports in Indiana that the earnings ratio of women to men has ranged from a low of 65.9% in 1997 to a high of 84.7% in 2016. The Pew Research Center said it's a phenomenon that's the result of many factors, including different pay rates with the types of jobs men and women often work, a stall in wage progression when women take breaks from the workforce for motherhood, and a stagnancy in women's wages as they age. It reports progress was made toward closing the gender pay gap over the last few decades but that it stalled during the 21st century, again for a variety of reasons.
Utah had the biggest discrepancy nationwide of 26.9% with the average woman making $47,907 and the average man making $65,512, with the average woman earning only 73 cents per $1 the average man made, the Eldessouky Law study found.
Louisiana, Alabama, New Hampshire, Idaho and Kansas rounded out the top five highest pay gaps. North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming ranked eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively.
“Gender pay gaps perpetuate inequality, which, in this day and age, is highly disheartening. If we look at the overall findings, the average salary for men across America is over $62K, whereas for women, it is $50K. Furthermore, the findings show that in some states, men, on average, can earn up to $80K, whereas women can only earn up to $67K," Eldessouky Law wrote in its report.
“In contrast, states such as Vermont, California, and New York have the highest ratios when it comes to gender pay. Women in Vermont earn, on average, $0.89 for every $1 a man earns, and women in California and New York earn $0.88 for every $1. While these figures are promising, there is room for improvement in all states.”
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