Women make $11,000 less a year than men in California, study says. How big is Fresno pay gap?

Fresno and Clovis are among the cities with the highest wage gaps between men and women in the United States, according to a new study by TruckInfo.net.

The trucking company said it looked at “the impact women have had on the labor force, how they are represented across various occupations, the wage gap, and how it has changed over time,” examining gender-based pay disparity on the state and city level.

In the state of California, men earn a median annual salary $52,385 while women earn a median income of $41,332 annually, TruckInfo.net said, a difference of more than $11,000.

That means women in California make $0.79 for every dollar men earn.

“While women make up more than 97% of preschool and kindergarten teachers, they only represent 2.2% of automotive technicians and mechanics,” TruckInfo.net said.

Some women dominated occupations include Kindergarten teachers, childcare workers, executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants and medical assistants. While nondominant professions include carpenters, electricians and maintenance work.

Here’s how Fresno and other California cities ranked according to TruckInfo.net.

How much do Fresno women earn compared to men?

Two Fresno County cities ranked among the U.S. cities with the largest wage gaps between men and women.

Fresno was No. 22 on TruckInfo.net’s list of large cities in the United States — defined as those with populations of 350,000 people or more — while Clovis was No. 40 among the small cities with the largest wage gaps.

The website defined small cities as places with populations under 150,000 people.

In the city of Fresno, women earn a median annual income of $33,569 — $8,928 less per year than men, who make $42,479 in annual median income.

That means female Fresno residents made 79 cents for every dollar men earned.

According to background check website Checkr, Fresno led the list as the best city for working women in 2024, The Fresno Bee previously reported.

The Central Valley city ranked highly in terms of median income growth for women, and showed “promising” growth in the number of women in management positions, The Bee wrote.

What about Clovis?

Women in Clovis earned a median annual income of $46,752, compared to $69,148 a year for men, according to the TruckInfo.net study.

That’s a difference of $22,396.

In other words, Clovis women were paid 68 cents for every dollar men earned.

Which large California cities have largest wage gaps?

A total of nine California cities landed on TruckInfo.net’s list of the large cities with the largest pay gaps in the nation.

According to the study, these were the top largest cities in California with the worst wage gaps, and how much women in those cities earned compared to men:

• No. 4: San Jose: 72 cents for every dollar
  
  
• No. 6: Bakersfield: 76 cents
• No. 12: San Francisco: 77 cents
• No. 14: San Diego: 78 cents
• No. 22: Fresno 0.79 cents
• No. 37: Oakland: 83 cents
• No. 38: Long Beach: 84 cents
• No. 44: Los Angeles: 86 cents
• No. 53: Sacramento: 93 cents

Where are US cities with biggest wage gaps?

El Paso, Texas, had the biggest gender-based wage gap of any large city in the United States, according to TruckInfo.net

Men in the Texas city earn a median annual income of $40,281 — $12,235 more per year then their female counterparts, who make a median income of $28,046 annually, the study found.

Wichita, Kansas, had the second largest wage gap in the nation, TruckInfo.net said, noting that men in the city earn a median annual income of $45,567, compared to $31,776 a year for women.

These were the top 10 large cities with the largest wage gaps in the nation, and how much women workers earn compared to men, according to TruckInfo.net:

1. El Paso, Texas: 70 cents for every dollar
2. Wichita, Kansas: 70 cents
3. Colorado Springs, Colorado: 71 cents
4. San Jose: 72 cents
5. Fort Worth, Texas: 75 cents
6. Bakersfield: 76 cents
7. Virginia Beach, Virginia: 76 cents
8. Miami: 77 cents
9. Raleigh, North Carolina: 77 cents
10. Seattle: 77 cents

What are the 10 states with the largest pay gaps?

According to TruckInfo.net, the following U.S. states have the largest gaps in terms of compensation for female and male employees:

1. Utah: 60 cents for every dollar
2. Idaho: 63 cents
3. Wyoming: 64 cents
4. Alabama: 65 cents
5. Louisiana: 67 cents
6. North Dakota: 67 cents
7. New Hampshire: 69 cents
8. Michigan: 70 cents
9. Montana: 70 cents
10. West Virginia: 70 cents

Which large cities have best pay equity in the nation?

Columbus, Ohio, was the large U.S. city that offers the most pay equity between men and women, according to TruckInfo.net.

Sacramento ranked second in the list as one of the cities that offer the most pay equity between men and women,

These were the top 10 large cities in the United States with the smallest wage gaps, and how women’s earnings compare to men’s, according to TruckInfo.net:

1. Columbus, Ohio: 93 cents for every dollar
2. Detroit: 92 cents for every dollar
3. Baltimore: 90 cents for every dollar
4. Denver: 89 cents for every dollar
5. Memphis, Tennessee 88 cents for every dollar

6. Nashville-Davidson metropolitan area, Tennessee 87 cents for every dollar

7. Chicago 86 cents for every dollar

8. Cleveland 86 cents for every dollar

9. Dallas 86 cents for every dollar

How did TruckInfo.net come up with findings?

TruckInfo.net. sourced income and employment data from the U.S. Census Bureau, basing its findings about the most and least common occupations for women on data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

‍Large cities were defined as cities with a population over 350,000; mid-size cities as populations from 150,000-349,999; and small cities as populations under 150,000.

Fernanda Galan

The Fresno Bee

559-441-6005

Fernanda Galan covers Central Valley and California news as The Fresno Bee’s service journalism reporter. Before joining The Bee in 2024, she reported in Milwaukee, Arizona and Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.