Women earn less than men, and fewer women than men work, especially in mostly rural states

Women's annual salaries remain lower than men's in several rural states, and many rural states are severely lacking in equal pay for men and women, says a report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Women have the lowest median annual earnings in Arkansas, Mississippi, South Dakota and West Virginia, at $30,000, and Louisiana has the worst ratio of earnings between men and women. The report, which also looked at the percentage of women in the workforce and percentage of women in managerial or professional occupations, gave West Virginia and Alabama overall grades of F.

West Virginia, which was ranked last of all states and Washington, D.C., was ranked 49th for earnings ratios between men and women, last for percent of women in labor force and 44th for women in managerial or professional occupations. Alabama, ranked 50th overall, was 43rd in median salary, at $31,200, 46th in earnings ratios between men and women, 50th in percent of women in labor force and
42nd for women in managerial or professional occupations.

"Women in West Virginia are making less now than they were in 2010—when women were making 69 percent of what a man makes, as compared to 66 percent today, according to the report," Mackenzie Mays reports for the Charleston Gazette. Tara Martinez, executive director of the West Virginia Women’s Commission told Mays, "We’re actually moving backward,. The discouragement and the hopelessness that I see as part of my job. I take it home with me. Sometimes you look at where women are, especially in this state that we all love so much, and you say, ‘OK, what hope do I give them?’ The hope that I try to convey is that their voice is the only way to make the change that they need to make their lives better in this state.”

Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming were given a D-; Idaho, Indiana, Oklahoma and Kentucky were given a D; and Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah were given a D+. Washington D.C. was the only area to receive an A. (Institute for Women’s Policy Research map)