BLS — Highlights of women's earnings in 2023

What the study found

This annual U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report tracks the median earnings of women and men who work full time as wage and salary earners. For 2023 it puts women's median earnings at roughly 83% of men's, leaving a women's-to-men's ratio in the low-80s percent range. This figure is the raw, unadjusted pay gap: it compares typical full-time earnings directly, before any statistical controls for occupation, hours worked, industry or experience. ^[1]

women who were full-time wage and salary workers earned about 83% of what their male counterparts earned

^[1]

Why it matters here

Debate over whether the gender pay gap is a "myth" often turns on the difference between the raw gap and the smaller gap that remains after adjusting for job choice, hours and experience. This report supplies the government's own measure of that raw, unadjusted figure, which is the starting point for both sides of the argument rather than a claim about its cause. It is cited on is the gender pay gap a myth? as the baseline statistic that adjusted analyses then seek to explain.