ABQ gender pay gap among best 20 cities

SF, Cruces post even better study results

Albuquerque is listed among the top 20 cities for having the smallest gender pay gap, according to a recent study.

The study by Adobo, an economics and housing research firm, ranked Albuquerque No. 14 among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, with women earning 83.8 percent of men’s pay. The median income for men in New Mexico is $44,817, while it’s $37,554 for women, according to the study.

Nationally, the pay gap is 78.9 percent, with women earning a median income of $39,315 and men earning $49,828.

The report is based on data from the 2015 U.S. Census Bureau, looking at five-year estimates.

Santa Fe and Las Cruces — which are not among the 100 largest metro areas — did even better, when looking at the less reliable one-year estimates, the study said. They were the only two among all cities in the nation that had no gender gap.

However, the study focused primarily on the five-year findings because they are a more “reliable and accurate depiction of the trends” than the singleyear figures, Adobo spokeswoman Sam Radbil said.

The top city for equal pay among the 100 largest metro areas is Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., location of the Research Triangle of major universities. Women there are paid 92.6 percent of what men earn. Coming in at second and third are the Los Angeles area and Fresno, Calif., areas.

The least equal pay is found in Provo-Orem, Utah, and Baton Rouge, La., the study said.

“Lower earnings have concrete consequences, and not only on pay day,” says the study, titled “Living in the Gap: A Look at Gender, Wages and Housing Affordability.” “Wage disparities can limit an individual worker’s economic mobility and even their ability to get hired in the future. For example, employers could look at the disparate salaries of two candidates for a job, and perhaps assume that the higher-earner is a harder worker.”

The study, quoting the American Association of University Women, says “the current path we’re on won’t take us to full wage parity until 2152 — that’s another 135 years.”