The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
For Release: Tuesday, January 14, 2014
14-54-NEW
NEW YORK–NEW JERSEY INFORMATION OFFICE: New York City, N.Y.
Technical information:
(646) 264-3600 BLSinfoNY@bls.gov www.bls.gov/regions/new-york-new-jersey
Media contact:
(646) 264-3620
Women’s Earnings in New Jersey - 2012
In 2012, New Jersey women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of
$818 or 79.4 percent of the $1,030 median weekly earnings for their male counterparts, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that the 2012 women’s to men’s
earnings ratio in New Jersey declined 4 percentage points from the previous year. Nationwide, women earned
$691 or 80.9 percent of the $854 median for men. (See table 1. Earnings in this report do not control for many
factors that can be significant in explaining earnings differences.)
In New Jersey, the ratio of women’s to men’s earnings has generally trended upward since 2004 when the
series recorded a low of 74.3 percent. (See chart 1.)
2
Among the 50 states, median weekly earnings of women in full-time wage and salary positions in 2012 ranged
from $566 in Montana to $868 in Connecticut. States with the highest wages for women were located along
the Eastern Seaboard. In addition to Connecticut and New Jersey, women’s earnings in Maryland and
Massachusetts were also above $800 per week. (See table 1 and chart 2.)
Across the nation, median weekly earnings for men were lowest in Arkansas at $717 and highest in
Connecticut at $1,127. Four of the five highest-paying states for full-time male workers (Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland) were also located along the Eastern Seaboard. The sole exception
was on the West Coast – Alaska. (See table 1.)
The ratio of female-to-male earnings in 2012 varied across the nation, ranging from 65.5 percent in Wyoming
to 86.8 percent in Arizona. (See table 1.) Of the three states with women’s to men’s ratios of 85 percent or
higher, two were located in the West (Arizona and