U.S. Women Make Progress in Highest-Paying Occupations

Just over a third of workers in the United States’ highest-paying occupations were women in 2021, up from just 13 percent in 1980. Although women have made major gains in the past 40 years, there’s still some way to go before full equality is reached in many fields.

An analysis by Pew Research Center shows that of the 10 highest-paid occupations in the U.S. in 2021, pharmacy was the only one where there are more women working in the job than men. At that time, 61 percent of pharmacists were women, up from 24 percent in 1980. However, several other roles also saw major growth among women workers. For example, the share of female lawyers increased from 14 percent in 1980 to 40 percent in 2021, while for physicians the share jumped from 13 percent to 38 percent and similarly for dentists, from 7 percent to 33 percent.

As this chart shows, gender roles are still firmly entrenched in several sectors. Where just 5 percent of all workers in 1980 were petroleum, mining and geological engineers, the figure was only 8 percent in 2021. All of these jobs earn a median average of over $100,000 per year.