Recent insight provided by GoErie informs of the wage disparity between men and women. The article, Census: Erie County women earn two-thirds as much as men highlights that women working in Erie County generally earn 65.9 percent of what their male counterparts make (lower than the national median of 72.8 percent). In some specific job types, this wage gap is much higher. For example, the article indicates that in the legal profession, women make 25.1 percent of what men make. Looking beyond job types to sectors, across the nation, it is well documented that women dominate the nonprofit organization workforce but here too the gender pay disparity is stark. Nationally, the gap is about 20 percent as reported in the article entitled Women still face gender pay gap at Pittsburgh-area nonprofit firms. Whether by sector or job category, wage disparities among gender and race are an indicator of an area's *equitable development. This is particularly salient to Erie County where the average salary overall decreased 1.4% from 2016 to 2017 as noted in Erie Vital Signs.
*Equitable development is a positive development strategy that ensures everyone participates in and benefits from the region's economic transformation—especially low income residents, communities of color, immigrants, and others at risk of being left behind.
