"The principal reason was the dominance of mining industry jobs, including oil and gas extraction, in the state," according to Dr. Wenlin Liu in Cheyenne. "While the annual wage in the mining industry was nearly twice as much as the overall wage rate, the number of male workers in this high paying industry out-numbered female workers by almost 7 to 1."
Other higher paying industries such as utilities, wholesale trade and transportation in Wyoming also have big gaps in the mixture of workers by gender. Overall, in the United States, women’s earnings as a percent of men’s earnings was 77.5, which is the highest it has ever been, according to Dr. Liu.
The Census Bureau data released Friday also noted that Wyoming’s real median household income jumped 5.4 percent between the 2006 and 2007, the fastest in the nation. Nationally, the real median household income increased only 1.9 percent during the same period. "The speed of the increase was truly substantial and tremendous," according to Dr. Liu. "It indicated that the average Wyoming resident is benefiting from mineral development in recent years, resulting in strong employment and increased income."
Wyoming’s median household income reached $51,731 in 2007 and ranked 20th in the nation. This is up from a ranking of 36th in 2000. And, Wyoming’s median household income surpassed the national level of $50,740. "The last time Wyoming’s median household income was higher than the nation’s was in 1984."
A table in the release notes that Wyoming has 10,546 households earning less than $10,000 annually. In the category of earning $10,000 to $14,000 the survey found 10,563 Wyoming families. The largest category was those households earning $50,000 to $74,999 with 41,140 households. The survey also found 5,308 households earning $200,000 or more in 2007.
The state’s rate of individuals living in poverty remained flat from 2006 to 2007. The survey found 8.7 percent of Wyoming people living in poverty, significantly below the national rate of 13 percent. Wyoming ranks 46th in the state in terms of people living in poverty. Overall, Wyoming’s poverty rate has been declining since 2000, according to economist Amy Bittner with the Economic Analysis Division. The state has the lowest number of people 65 and over living in poverty compared to the rest of the country. The poverty threshold for a family of three, which includes one related child under 18 years of age, was $16,689 in 2007.
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