OLMIS

by Charles Johnson
Published May-26-2010

Oregon Industries Oregon Occupations

Median earnings of Oregon's female full-time, year-round workers were about $34,040 in 2008. Oregon ranked 24^th out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia for women's median earnings, slightly below the national female median of $35,530. Compared to its neighbors, Oregon's female workers only outearned women in Idaho (Graph 1). With median earnings of $43,440 last year, men in Oregon ranked 28th in the nation for full-time, year-round workers, compared with a national male median of $45,800.

In Oregon, women made 78.4 percent of the median male earnings, a wage disparity which is very similar to the national average. Across the country women took home an average of 77.6 percent of their male counterparts' earnings (Graph 2).

Women in the District of Columbia had the highest pay and enjoyed the least median wage disparity in the country, earning a median wage of $50,550 or 87 percent of the median earnings of men in the area. Women in Arkansas had the lowest average earnings in the country, taking home about $27,510 last year, or 75 percent of the median male earnings. Wyoming had the greatest median wage disparity; women there took home 63 percent of the median male earnings.

There are four industries in which women account for a greater share of those employed in Oregon than average: education and health services, financial activities, government, and leisure and hospitality. Within these industries, women made up 60 percent of the workforce and experienced wage disparities ranging from $490 to $16,360 less than median male wages. In industries which have fewer females than average participating in their workforce, females made up 28 percent of the workforce and earned between $16,530 less and $1,180 more than their male counterparts, or 69 and 103 percent of median male wages, depending on which industry they participate in.

Women outnumbered men in two of the 11 industry super-sectors, accounting for 57 percent of the workforce in financial activities and 70 percent of the workforce in education and health services. These two industries also had large earnings disparities. Women in financial activities brought home median earnings of $38,020, which was 74 percent of their male counterparts' $51,690. In education and health services, females made 74 percent of median male earnings, earning $36,820 compared with $49,490 for men.

Women working in leisure and hospitality earned the least of all female full-time, year-round workers ($23,380) but their wages were nearly identical to male earnings ($23,870). Men in this industry also earned less than in any other industry. In 2008, women in the public sector were the highest paid in all industries, earning $43,800, or 73 percent of their male counterparts' $60,150. In construction, women brought home a greater median wage than their male counterparts, $41,940 compared to $40,770, or 103 percent of the male earnings.

A large part of the wage difference which appears in an industry overview is explained by differences in occupational concentrations within industries. For example, the education and health services industry has a significant earnings gap between occupations related to that industry; high-wage physicians and surgeons (predominantly male) and low-wage home health aides (predominantly female) are grouped together within this industry. The statistical tendency for industries with greater than average concentration of female workers to also have a greater median earnings disparity disappears when analyzing occupations instead of industries, indicating that the industry differences are due to occupational mixes within industries.

The American Community Survey (ACS) does not provide sufficiently detailed data to look at individual occupations within Oregon. If it did, it would be the best way to determine where wage inequalities existed. However, examining ACS data on occupational groups shows much less disparity than is seen between industry classifications.

Women outnumbered men in eight of the 22 major occupational groups. This was most notable in healthcare support occupations, where women accounted for 89 percent of the workforce and earned less, on average, than their male counterparts last year. Women in these occupations took home about $25,690.

Women out-earned men in four occupation groups. Women in installation, maintenance, and repair occupations and in construction and extraction occupations made up less than 3 percent of the workforce but earned 109 percent and 107 percent, respectively, of median male earnings.

Women in legal occupations experienced the greatest earnings disparity, making less than one-half of their male counterparts' earnings. These women took home a median wage of $40,390 compared with $88,740 for men. This difference is explained by national data which shows that 82 percent of males in this occupational group are lawyers, while 60 percent of females are legal assistants or support workers.

Within occupational groups it appears that the greatest earnings disparities continue to arise from differences of male and female concentrations within individual occupations.