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The 11 Cities Where Women Out-Earn Men By The Biggest Margin (PHOTOS)

Huffington Post     First Posted: 09/02/10 01:08 PM ET   Updated: 05/25/11 06:30 PM ET

Young, single women are earning more than men in most of America's largest cities, according to a study released Wednesday.

In 2008, women ages 22 to 30 with no children and no spouse earned a higher median income than comparable men in 39 of the 50 largest U.S. cities, according to analysis of census data by New York research firm Reach Advisors. Men out-earned women in only three of the largest cities, and earned 8 percent less on average in the top 366 metropolitan areas.

These wage patterns are driven by the fact that women in the U.S. are 1.5 times more likely to graduate from college than men, says James Chung, president of Reach Advisors. The increase in educational levels among Generation Y women has resulted in the number of unmarried women in their twenties jumping 23 percent in the last 10 years, Chung also found.

"While the average American women still earns 20 percent less than men, the gap is biggest among older women and smallest among younger women," Chung said.

In fact, the gap is reversed among single, childless city-dwellers in their twenties. Women in this segment command median salaries that are at least 10 percent higher than their male counterparts in 14 of the largest metropolitan areas, including New York City, Los Angeles and Miami. And in some major cities, women out-earn men by as much as 19 percent.

Check out the 11 cities where women out-earn men by the biggest margin:

Atlanta, Georgia
1 of 12
Women out-earn men by 21 percent*.
Female Median: $29,000
Male Median: $24,000

*Using 2008 Census data, researchers compared the median wage and salary income for women and men, ages 22 to 30, single, never married, no children, working 35 or more hours per week.
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Young, single women are earning more than men in most of America's largest cities, according to a study released Wednesday. In 2008, women ages 22 to 30 with no children and no spouse earned a higher...
Young, single women are earning more than men in most of America's largest cities, according to a study released Wednesday. In 2008, women ages 22 to 30 with no children and no spouse earned a higher...
 
 
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08:56 PM on 10/29/2010
Young women already out number young men in college, so why should these numbers be a surprise? High paying, male-oriented, blue collar jobs are a shrinking part of the economy. The future looks particularly grim for young minority males if they regard education as a "white thing".
08:37 PM on 10/29/2010
Young educated women, who dress the part, always make bank. But don't lose your looks, your naivete, your health, or anything else that identifies you as over 30, because once you do, like your bosses former over 30 wives, you could be history!
10:22 PM on 09/26/2010
I'm not surprised that in some markets women out earn men. What surprises me is that it's young, single women who are doing the out earning! So having a husband and a child is warrant for making less pay??? Interesting to read nevertheless...
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glenn113
02:54 PM on 09/11/2010
This will be the political future for awhile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=561mF9xVowg&feature=more_related
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syllable
09:06 PM on 09/10/2010
Women are formidable forces of vision, determination and balance.
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08:15 PM on 09/10/2010
If only women could just get their husbands to do their share of childcare and housework when they have to work full-time. Sweden got it right. We are still behind on that aspect.
06:08 AM on 09/06/2010
Interesting trend. I recently covered this issue in my Gen Y blog (www.amyturek.com). I have my own controversial theories on why young, single women are out-earning men.

I feel bad for women, in some ways, because there is so much pressure to establish a career and get promoted before she turns 30 and has children. Men have plenty of time to dally around in their twenties--they will peak in earnings around 45 or 50 AND still be able to have children at that age. Women are kind of in a bind, because once they have children and husbands, their loyalties split, and they simply can't put in 70 hour work weeks like they did to get ahead in their twenties.
11:01 PM on 09/04/2010
I am surprised not to see Las Vegas, NV on this list!
DrSnuggles
You label me and I'll label you
09:50 AM on 09/03/2010
Honestly, I would be surprised if women don't out-earn men in almost every city when using the overall median as a signpost. Women tend to be better educated and more likely to voluntarily opt of of the workforce. In other words, on average, women have better jobs than men.

The more telling statistic is the income disparity between a man and a woman doing the same job.
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09:23 AM on 09/03/2010
This is just wrong that one group makes more than another. Men need an advocacy group to help them get equal rights.
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08:13 PM on 09/10/2010
right because you are so oppressed by us that you can literally get an anxiety attack walking in a parking garage, a sidewalk, or any freakin place after dark! yeah, because in winter your curfew for almost definite safety if you live in any city is 5:00...(when it gets dark) because any other time, deep down inside, you know you are taking a risk...because you have more of a chance being raped than you do becoming a leader of a business....I could go on...You are SO OPPRESSED

I'd take less pay and worse jobs and trade with you if it meant I could go out when I please and the only thing I have to worry about, so long as I live in a respectable place, is maybe getting robbed....huh......fair?
09:19 AM on 09/03/2010
I'm sure there is more cities than just these 11...
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vorpalmusic
05:28 PM on 09/03/2010
The article says it is in 39 out of the biggest 50 cities.
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hubbahubba77
08:59 AM on 09/03/2010
I'm surprised Las Vegas isn't on this list, to be honest.
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uncc49er
09:05 AM on 09/03/2010
yeap, strip clubs.
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hubbahubba77
08:58 AM on 09/03/2010
Phoenix data was skewed by Jan Brewer. Her ciggie purchases alone support many female entrepreneurs.
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hubbahubba77
08:56 AM on 09/03/2010
What I can't understand is how anyone in NY making $30K (male) or $35K (female) a year isn't homeless.
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jasev01
08:58 AM on 09/03/2010
public housing and living in the outer boros and food assistance. Maybe many are jobless drives down the numbers. Or live in 2 person houses or with family.
06:10 AM on 09/06/2010
because three of them share one 800 square foot apartment
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08:29 AM on 09/03/2010
Yawn, must be a slow news day. This incomplete filler article is just a click generator.
09:17 AM on 09/03/2010
seriously.