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Gender Pay Gap In Texas Is Wider Than National Average

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Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows women still only earn 81 cents for every dollar earned by a man. A new report finds that gap is bigger in Texas, where woman earn 79.4% of what men earn on average.

A report released by the Austin-based financial technology company Self compared the income of full-time working men and women in metro areas with more than 100,000 people.

The average national pay gap has stalled around 19%, meaning women generally make 19% less than their male counterparts.

The pay gap is wider in some Texas cities.

In Lubbock, Odessa and Laredo women make about 35% less than men working the same jobs. In San Angelo and the Beaumont/Port Arthur region, women make about 40% less.

The biggest gender pay gap in Texas is in Midland, where women earn less than 42% of what men make.

According to the report, gender pay gaps are more pronounced in these small and mid-sized cities than bigger metro areas.

Among those bigger metro areas, Austin-Round Rock ranked in the top 15 with the biggest gender pay gap. Women there make about 22% less than men on average.

In the U.S., the gender pay gap also varies widely by occupation and industry. According to the report, the finance and insurance industry has the largest pay gap with women earning 59 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

Got a tip? Email Rebekah Morr at rmorr@kera.org. You can follow her on Twitter @bekah_morr.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gifttoday. Thank you.

Rebekah Morr is KERA's All Things Considered newscaster and producer. She came to KERA from NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a news assistant at Weekend All Things Considered.