These Are the Industries Where Women Make the Most Money
During Women’s History Month, it’s important to take a close look at how women are faring financially in the workplace. Women are still trying to catch up to men’s earning power, still making only 82 cents to every $1 of men’s earnings, according to PayScale.com’s 2022 “Gender Pay Gap Report.”
Women also suffer more severely from a phenomenon known as “the unemployment gap,” which shows that the longer a person goes without work, the less she will earn when she finally returns. For women who have been unemployed less than three months, the gender pay gap is $0.83 on the dollar, but this expands to $0.70 for a period of 24 months or more. Not only does child-rearing affect this gap, but the pandemic had an impact on women’s unemployment.
Discover: High-Paying Jobs Where Women Outnumber Men
Also See: Career Ambitions of Women Grew Over Past Year, Survey Highlights
All of that said, there are some industries where women are making better money than any others. Drawing on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2021 Current Population Survey, GoBankingRates found the 10 industries where women are making the most money, including how many women work in these fields, the highest-paying jobs within these industries and the median weekly and annual pay they receive.
10. Education, training and library occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 5,248,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,071
- Women’s median annual earnings: $55,692
In this industry, post-secondary teaching jobs have the most women, at 460,000, and they earn a median annual salary of $77,116.
9. Arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 781,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,145
- Women’s median annual earnings: $59,540
Public relations specialists are the highest-paid in this industry, with women averaging median pay of $1,615 per week, or $83,980 per year.
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8. Professional and related occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 16,306,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,167
- Women’s median annual earnings: $60,684
In the professional occupations, which employ over 16 million women, software developers earn the most money, at $95,680 median annual earnings. There are 369,000 women in this specific job.
7. Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 5,503,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,218
- Women’s median annual earnings: $63,336
Within the healthcare industry the highest-paying job is pharmacist, with 133,000 women in this job earning a median annual salary of $108,524.
6. Management, business and financial operations occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 10,299,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,306
- Women’s median annual earnings: $67,912
Of the more than 10 million women in this industry, 184,000 work in the highest-paying job, computer and information systems managers. It’s no wonder — they earn a median annual salary of $99,216.
Also See: Women Account for Nearly Two-Thirds of Pandemic-Era Job Losses — How Recovery Compares to Men
5. Legal occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 807,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,332
- Women’s median annual earnings: $69,264
About 331,000 women are serving subpoenas, taking people to court and more as lawyers. They’re earning an annual median salary of $99,424.
4. Management occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 6,116,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,341
- Women’s median annual earnings: $69,732
Within management occupations, the highest-paying job is computer and information systems managers, who earn a median annual salary of $99,216. There are 184,000 women in the job.
3. Life, physical and social science occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 627,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,342
- Women’s median annual earnings: $69,784
Within these science-based occupations, the highest-paying jobs are physical scientists, who earn a median annual salary of $78,000. There are 138,000 women in the field.
2. Architecture and engineering occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 502,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings, 2021: $1,435
- Women’s median annual earnings, 2021: $74,620
The highest-paying jobs in architecture and engineering are industrial engineers — and this includes health and safety engineers. The 60,000 women in this job earn a median annual salary of $81,692.
1. Computer and mathematical occupations
- Number of women in 2021: 1,350,000
- Women’s median weekly earnings: $1,499
- Women’s median annual earnings: $77,948
About 369,000 software developers prove that women can be good at math and science. These women earn the highest pay for any job in this industry, at $95,680 median annual salary.
Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates used the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2021 Current Population Survey “Table 39. Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex,” in order to discover the industries where women are making the most money. For each industry, GOBankingRates found the 2021 number of women workers by industry, 2021 median weekly earnings for women by industry and 2021 median annual earnings for women. The 10 highest-paying industries in terms of 2021 median annual earnings for women were included in the final list. All data was collected and is up to date as of March 8, 2022.
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