RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Durham rates as a better city for women in technology than either Charlotte or Raleigh with the capital city’s ranking being driven down by a big gap in pay between men and women, according to a new study out Wednesday.
Ranking top cities for women in tech. SmartAsset graphic
Financial services site SmartAsset ranks the Bull City as No. 8 based on data across several categories, including gap in gender pay, growth of tech jobs, income calculated after expenses for housing, and the percentage of tech jobs filled by women.
Charlotte came in tied for 24th place.
Raleigh finished 56th among the 58 metro areas included in the study, which is the fifth conducted by SmartAsset.
Driving down Raleigh’s score? A big gap in gender compensation.
Interestingly, a recent “State of Technology” report from the NC Technology Association, found that North Carolina ranked second nationally in percentage of women in the tech workforce at 36.4 percent. However, in the overall tech industry diversity index the state ranked 23rd.
‘State of Technology’ report shows NC’s numerous strengths, also weaknesses
From corner desk to C-suite: The journey is still painfully slow for women
“Women in tech face a large pay gap in Raleigh,” a spokesperson for SmartAsset points out.
“On average, female tech workers earn 69% of what their male counterparts do, the largest pay gap in our study and well below the national figure of 84%. Female tech workers in Raleigh also tend to earn considerably less income after housing costs than their female counterparts nationwide.”
Washington, D.C. topped the study with an overall index score of 87.41.
Durham scored 68.77.
Charlotte came in at 55.21.
Raleigh’s overall score was 29.30.
Ranking cities for women in technology. SmartAsset graphic
“Durham saw poor tech job growth relative to other cities. But that should not scare tech women away,” SmartAsset notes. “Durham has the 20th-lowest tech gender pay gap, the 11th-highest income after housing for female tech workers and the 13th-highest rate of women working in tech.”
For more about the study, including methodology, visit the SmartAsset study site.
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