A new U.S. gender pay gap study from Pegasus Legal Capital finds that wage inequity varies sharply by state and is further intensified by race and ethnicity, revealing layered disparities that persist despite decades of federal legal protections. The analysis reports that women still earn 83 cents for every $1 earned by men, and that even after controlling for role and comparable work, women earn $0.99 per male dollar, evidence that wage inequality remains both structural and direct.
The study’s findings arrive in a legal context where discrimination protections have been in place for decades. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, and religion, and in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court reinforced protections related to gender identity and sexual orientation. Yet the report emphasizes that the existence of legal protections has not eliminated wage disparities, especially because enforcement often depends on workers filing complaints rather than employers being required to conduct proactive audits.
The States With the Largest Gender Wage Gaps
The study’s state-level ranking identifies the ten states with the widest gender wage gaps, finding that some of the greatest disparities appear in high-income states where overall wages are higher, meaning the consequences for women can be financially amplified.
Virginia ranks as the state with the largest gender wage gap in the study, with women earning more than $42,000 less per year than men on average. Utah and Washington follow closely, each with annual gaps exceeding $39,000. The report suggests that these differences likely reflect occupational concentration in higher-paying sectors, leadership pipeline disparities, and uneven distribution of women across the highest-compensated roles.
Major economic hubs also appear high on the list. The study reports annual pay gaps of $36,684 in Texas, $34,555 in New Jersey, and $33,653 in California. Even states often associated with progressive labor policies show significant disparities, including Massachusetts ($32,594) and Maryland ($29,753). New York posts a gap of $24,652, and the District of Columbia rounds out the top ten with a gap of $20,414, demonstrating that high median wages do not automatically translate to wage equity.
The study’s conclusion from these patterns is direct: women can face especially large absolute-dollar losses in high-wage states because the gap scales with overall compensation. A smaller “percentage” gap in a high-income environment can still translate into tens of thousands of dollars per year in lost earnings.
The Gender Wage Gap Widens Further With Race and Ethnicity
The study also details how gender pay disparities intersect with race—creating compounded inequities for many women of color. When comparing earnings to White men, the study finds:
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Native American women: earn $0.75 to the White male dollar
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Hispanic women: earn $0.78
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Black women: earn $0.79
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White women: earn $0.82
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Pacific Islander women: earn $0.88
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Asian women: earn $0.95
These figures show that while women across all racial groups experience a wage gap, some groups face a wider penalty due to what the study describes as a “double disadvantage”—unequal outcomes linked to both gender and race.
The report points to occupational segregation as a key driver: women of color are disproportionately represented in lower-paying occupations and underrepresented in higher-paying leadership and technical roles. The study emphasizes that these outcomes are not fully explained by education or experience alone. Instead, discrimination and unequal access to advancement opportunities can shape hiring, promotions, and compensation in ways that are difficult for individuals to challenge—especially in workplaces without pay transparency.
Motherhood Further Expands the Gap
The study highlights how the pay gap grows when women become mothers. Around seven in ten mothers with children are working either full- or part-time, and 41% of families with children rely on women as the primary or sole earner. Yet caregiving expectations and childcare economics can push mothers into reduced hours or lower-paying roles.
Childcare costs are a major factor. The study cites average annual childcare costs of approximately $15,570 per year (around $1,300 per month per child). Over time, differences in employers account for roughly one-third of the earnings gap ten years after a child’s birth. Among parents, women earn $0.75 for every dollar earned by fathers under the uncontrolled measure. Even among non-parents, women earn $0.88 per dollar compared to childless men, evidence of a persistent “childbearing penalty.”
A Systemic Problem With Measurable Economic Loss
The study estimates women lose $1.7 trillion per year in wages compared with male workers. The report argues that this is not simply a matter of individual negotiation or career choice; it is a systemic issue shaped by structural barriers, insufficient transparency, and uneven enforcement.
The study concludes that meaningful progress requires stronger accountability mechanisms, greater transparency, and reforms that shift responsibility away from individual workers bearing the cost and risk of challenging inequality alone.
