Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but it may have a new nickname pretty soon thanks to some of its cities ranking highly on one particular list generated by NerdWallet. What’s the list? Here’s a clue; wage gap. Or, to be more specific, a lack of a wage gap. That’s right, when it comes to the best cities for women in the workforce, Minnesota cities take the top three spots on the list.
NerdWallet created a list of the top ten cities for women in the workforce by analyzing data from 529 cities across the U.S. in terms of the average 2015 unemployment rate, women’s median earnings as a percentage of men’s median earnings for full-time, year-round workers, the median gross rent as a percentage of women’s median monthly earnings, and the difference between men and women in the workforce as measured by participation rate. Each of these four categories accounted for 25 percent of the final score.
Rochester, Minn., Minneapolis, Minn., and St. Paul, Minn., took the top three spots on the list. In each of these three cities women’s median earnings were more than 90 percent of men’s, unemployment was lower than the national average, and the cost of living was also lower. While these were ranked as the top three cities in the country for women in the workforce, neither of them saw women earning more than men.
Out of the 529 cities analyzed, 17 ended up with higher median earnings for women as compared to men. Three of these 17 cities scored well in other categories and cracked the top ten list: Durham, N.C., Skokie, Ill., and Redwood City, Calif. In Redwood City, specifically, women earn nearly 10 percent more than men in terms of average salary. This was the highest differential on the list and the third highest percentage overall. Only in Santa Barbara, Calif. and Gaithersburg, Md. do women outearn men by a wider margin.
To view NerdWallet’s entire top ten list and read why each city was represented, follow the link below.
