10. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL

24/7WallSt: The Worst-Paying Cities for Women

Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.6%
Median income for men: $51,124
Median income for women: $37,101

The city of Palm Bay’s largest employers include several manufacturers of durable goods — a sector notorious for being among the worst for paying women equal wages. Several jobs in the sector employ mostly men and very few women. According to the Department of Labor, only 1.5% of operating engineers and other construction equipment operators are women, one of the lowest rates among all occupations. Among the area’s largest employers in area in the durable goods sector are semiconductor producer Intersil, electronics manufacturer MC Assembly, defense technology company DRS Technologies, and the Melbourne-based communications equipment company Harris. The Palm Bay metropolitan area is completely out of step with the state of Florida, which has the lowest rate of pay inequality in the country.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

More from this Slideshow

0 of 0

10. Palm Bay-Mel... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.6%
Median income for men: $51,124
Median income for women: $37,101

The city of Palm Bay’s largest employers include several manufacturers of durable goods — a sector notorious for being among the worst for paying women equal wages. Several jobs in the sector employ mostly men and very few women. According to the Department of Labor, only 1.5% of operating engineers and other construction equipment operators are women, one of the lowest rates among all occupations. Among the area’s largest employers in area in the durable goods sector are semiconductor producer Intersil, electronics manufacturer MC Assembly, defense technology company DRS Technologies, and the Melbourne-based communications equipment company Harris. The Palm Bay metropolitan area is completely out of step with the state of Florida, which has the lowest rate of pay inequality in the country.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
9. Allentown-Bet... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.6%
Median income for men: $53,608
Median income for women: $38,890

Two sectors with some of the worst income gaps between men and women are also among the largest employers in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metropolitan area. In the health services and social assistance industry, women earn just 71.8% of what men do. In the nondurable — or consumable — goods sector, women earn 73.8% of what men earn on average. These disparities are significantly worse than the national average. Some of the largest employers in the area are health services companies Lehigh Valley Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital, followed by chemical company Air Products & Chemicals and energy company PPL, according to the Lehigh Valley Association of REALTORS. The area is also home to a number of large food producers, which are included in the nondurable goods sector.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
8. Boise City-Na... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.4%
Median income for men: $44,908
Median income for women: $32,514

The Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area is well-known for its forest products industry. The metro is home to major employers such as Idaho Pacific Lumber Company, paper company Boise Cascade and Idaho Timber. Around the turn of the century, however, Boise’s technology sector became its largest industry. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Micron Technology are among the city of Boise’s largest employers. Women, on average, earn less than 75% of what men do in the durable goods sector, which includes tech products, and less than 74% in the nondurable goods sector, which includes forest products. By state, Idaho ranks 12th-worst for earnings inequality by gender.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
7. Chattanooga, ... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.4%
Median income for men: $45,273
Median income for women: $32,753

Chattanooga is home to a particularly large manufacturing industry of both durable and nondurable goods — both among the worst for pay inequality. According to the city’s website, the largest manufacturing employers in the Chattanooga metropolitan area are McKee Foods Corporation, Synthetic Industries, and home appliance company Roper.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
6. Colorado Spri... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.1%
Median income for men: $50,101
Median income for women: $36,126

Colorado Springs’ economy is built on health care, the military, tourism, and the high-tech industry. The city’s two largest employers are Memorial Health System and Penrose-St. Francis Health Services. On average, women in the health care and social assistance sector are paid 71.8% of what men are paid. Among Colorado Springs’ other large employers are such durable goods companies as high-tech manufacturer Atmel, defense contractors Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, as well as communications company Verizon Business, which operated in the information sector. While Colorado Springs does poorly, the state of Colorado does relatively well, ranking 13th highest among all states when it comes to equal pay.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
5. Bridgeport-St... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 71.8%
Median income for men: $70,605
Median income for women: $50,714

The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metropolitan area is one of the wealthiest areas in the country, with a median household income of $74,831. The national average is $50,046. Disparity, however, affects the wealthy just as much and women in the area earn just 71.8% of what men do, on average. The area’s largest employment sector is health care, with Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincent Medical Center the two largest employers in the city of Bridgeport. Although there are many more women than men in the health care and social assistance sector, men’s salaries are significantly higher. Bridgeport is also a major center for investment management companies. UBS employs 4,000 people in Stamford — the largest amount in the region. The finance sector is the absolute worst industry when it comes to income inequality between the genders.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
4. Augusta-Richm... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 70.6%
Median income for men: $46,648
Median income for women: $32,926

According to the Augusta Convention & Visitors Bureau, the largest industries in Augusta are health care, the military and manufacturing. The top employers in the city are the nuclear reservation Savannah River Site, the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, and the Medical College of Georgia. Manufacturing and health care both sway heavily towards paying men more than women.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
3. Toledo, OH Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 70.0%
Median income for men: $49,739
Median income for women: $34,817

Among the Toledo metropolitan area’s largest employers are ProMedica Health Services, Mercy Health Partners, and Chrysler Holdings, which built its Toledo Assembly Complex in the city. The city’s largest industries are manufacturing, health services, and education. These industries, as a whole, fail to provide women pay equality. In the Toledo metropolitan area, women earn 70% of what men do.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
2. Ogden-Clearfi... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 64.4%
Median income for men: $51,766
Median income for women: $33,331

The metropolitan statistical area of Ogden-Clearfield, UT, is the second-worst in the country for gender pay inequality. Government, education, and manufacturing are the metropolitan area’s largest industries. Public administration and manufacturing are both highly imbalanced sectors when it comes to gender pay equality. The city of Ogden’s largest employers are the Department of Treasury, Weber State University, automotive safety product manufacturer Autoliv, and McKay Dee Hospital. Utah, on the whole, performs poorly compared to other states with regards to equal pay, ranking third-worst in the country.

(iStock Photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
1. Baton Rouge, ... Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 63.4%
Median income for men: $51,103
Median income for women: $32,385

On average, a full-time working woman doesn’t even earn two thirds of what her male counterpart earns in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. According to the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, the city’s largest employers are industrial construction company Turner Industries, the Louisiana State University System, engineering, procurement, and construction conglomerate Shaw Group, and industrial contractor Performance Contractors. Although LSU is an outlier, the other companies paint a picture of an industrial-leaning economy, which operates primarily in construction and the manufacturing of durable goods — two sectors with some of the worst gaps in pay between men and women. The state of Louisiana also has the greatest pay disparity in the country, with women earning 67.2% of what men do in the entire state.

(iStock photo)

More From 24/7 Wall St.:
The Ten Industries That Pay Women The Least
America’s Happiest States
How America’s Richest Companies Invest Their Cash

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
More From 24/7 W... Click here the most miserable states in America.

(AP Photo)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.