CHEYENNE (WNE) — A new study by University of Wyoming economists Anne Alexander and Chian Jones Ritten shows Wyoming’s gender wage gap persists, to the detriment of the state’s families and economy.

Their report, “The Wage Gap in Wyoming in 2022: How Gender, Race and Ethnicity Affect Pay Equity,” was released recently by the Wyoming Women’s Foundation, in partnership with the Equality State Policy Center and the Wyoming Council for Women. In addition to the work by Alexander and Jones Ritten, UW’s Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center provided data assistance.

According to the report, women make 75 cents for every dollar men make in Wyoming.

“Regardless of methodology, Wyoming consistently ranks last or near last in wage gap analyses, even when adjusted for cost of living and regional prices. Over the course of a year, this wage gap results in an estimated loss of $1.5 billion to the Wyoming economy,” Alexander and Jones Ritten wrote. “The average working woman in Wyoming loses enough money during a year from the gender wage gap to buy a total of 108 more weeks of food, 12 more months of mortgage and utilities payments, 21 more months of rent or 8,402 additional gallons of gas.”