Legal Research

The American Community Survey, a program of the U.S. Census Bureau, has just issued a report on the  results of the 2008 survey of women's and men's earnings by state. The report "presents data on men?s and women?s earnings at the national and state levels. ... 'Earnings' are the sum of wage and salary income and self-employment income. ... Estimates are restricted to full-time, year-round workers 16 years or older."

Here are some of the results from the report:

• The U.S. national median earnings for men was $45,556.
• The U.S. national median earnings for women was $35,471 (77.9% of men's earnings)
• Men's highest median earnings was in Connecticut ($58,838)
• Women's highest median earnings was in D.C. ($50,519; 85.9% of men's highest earnings)
• Men's lowest median earnings was in Puerto Rico ($19,942)
• Women's lowest median earnings was also in Puerto Rico ($20,165; 101.1% of men's lowest earnings)
• Puerto Rico also had the distinction of being the jurisdiction where women earned more than men, and the jurisdiction where the discrepancy between men's and women's earnings was the smallest (1.1%)
• Wyoming had the largest discrepancy between men's and women's median earnings, with women's at  64.3% of men's ($48,555 vs $31,204)

If you're not familiar with the American Community Survey program, here's a brief description: "The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities with reliable and timely demographic, social, economic, and housing data every year. It has an annual sample size of about 3 million addresses across the United States and Puerto Rico and includes both housing units and group quarters." You'll find more information on their web site.