INDIANAPOLIS — A recently released gender pay gap study conducted by Business.org revealed that Indiana women are paid 24% less than their male counterparts. That means Hoosier women earn an average salary of $38,913 while Hoosier men earn an average salary of $51,322.
Indiana's average gender pay gap of 24% — meaning women make 24% less in their yearly earnings than men — is even higher than the national average of 18%, according to this 2021 study.
This means women effectively stop getting paid on October 8.
At the top of the Business.org release, the question "Is your state making progress or standing still?" reads across the top. And it appears Indiana would be in the "standing still" bracket.
With women making 24% less than men in Indiana, that puts Hoosiers in the 44th spot on the list of smallest gender pay gaps across the United States. Vermont has the smallest pay gap, with women earning only 9% less than men overall. Wyoming has the largest pay gap, with women earning 35% less than their male counterparts.
According to Business.org, all statistics were calculated by collecting data from three government and academic sources — the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the University of Iowa.
"As you can see, the pay gap has steadily gotten better over time, but in the last 10 years or so we’ve been in a bit of a stalemate. We’ve drifted between 81–82% since 2010 with little sign of progress," the business financing team's release stated.
According to the study, the next step to making the pay discrepancy smaller nationwide is through recognizing there is a pay gap and changing inequalities in our own environments.
Certain industries have seen a significant decrease in pay discrepancies between male and female counterparts, such as the following:
- Producers and directors
- Office and administrative support workers
- Bus drivers
- Wholesale and retail buyers
- Fast food and counter workers
Industries with the biggest pay gaps are:
- Legal occupations
- Medical scientists
- Financial managers
- First-line supervisors of housekeeping and janitorial workers
- Credit counselors and loan officers
