According to a study, women ages 22 to 30 with no children and no spouse earned a higher median income than comparable men in 39 of the 50 largest U.S. cities in 2008.
Young Women Once Out-Earned Men in Most U.S. Cities
Back in 2008, something remarkable showed up in the wage data: young women were making more money than young men. Not everywhere, and not for everyone—but for single, childless women between 22 and 30, the tables had turned in most of America's biggest cities.
Researcher James Chung spent a year crunching Census Bureau numbers and found that these women earned a median income 8% higher than their male peers. In some cities, the gap was even more dramatic. Atlanta led the pack with women earning 21% more than men. Memphis, New York, and San Diego all showed double-digit advantages for women.
The Education Explanation
The reason wasn't mysterious: education. By 2008, the gender flip in college graduation rates had created a real-world impact. For every two men graduating college, three women were earning degrees. And since college graduates earn nearly $30,000 more annually than high school graduates, that educational advantage translated directly into paychecks.
Young women were also making different choices about their careers. Without children to care for, they could pursue demanding jobs, work longer hours, and chase promotions more aggressively. Meanwhile, many young men were either skipping college entirely or taking longer to finish their degrees.
The Specific (And Narrow) Demographics
Here's what made this finding both fascinating and limited: it only applied to a very specific group. The women out-earning men were:
- Between ages 22 and 30
- Single (unmarried)
- Childless
- Living in metropolitan areas
Change any of those factors, and the advantage disappeared. Married women earned less. Mothers earned significantly less. Women over 30 faced a different landscape. Rural areas didn't show the same pattern.
What Happened Next
This wage reversal made headlines in 2010 when Time magazine and other outlets covered the findings. It seemed like proof that the gender pay gap was finally closing—at least for one generation in certain circumstances.
But the story got more complicated. As those same women aged, got married, or had children, their wage advantage evaporated. The "motherhood penalty" proved remarkably persistent: women with children earn less than childless women, while men with children actually earn more than childless men (the "fatherhood bonus").
More recent 2022 Pew Research data shows young women still out-earn young men in 22 major cities, but the reversal is less widespread than it was in 2008. The pattern holds, but the advantage has narrowed in many places.
The 2008 snapshot revealed something important: when you control for education, marriage, and parenthood, young women can absolutely compete on earnings. But it also highlighted how much those other factors—especially motherhood—still shape women's economic trajectories in ways they don't for men.