California Pay Data Reports Show Women, Latinos, and Other Groups Overrepresented Among Low-Wage Workers

Sacramento – The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), California’s civil rights agency, today released its first results from data submitted to the department by private employers with 100 or more employees. The data show that – among the more than 6.3 million workers reported to DFEH in 2020 – women are overrepresented among low-wage workers and administrative support, sales, and service workers, and that men are overrepresented among high-wage workers and executives, managers, and craft workers. Similarly, the data show that Hispanics/Latinos, Blacks/African Americans, and certain other racial/ethnic groups are overrepresented among low-wage workers and/or in certain job categories.

“Today’s report reinforces the need for employers to review their compensation and other employment practices to correct pay disparities and ensure equal opportunity in their workplaces,” said DFEH Director Kevin Kish. “DFEH will continue to vigorously enforce California’s equal pay and antidiscrimination laws.”

Along with today’s announcement, DFEH has launched a webpage with downloadable infographics and data files aggregated at the statewide level, by industry, and by metropolitan area. The statewide findings related to sex include:

• Among workers in the lowest pay bands (earning $30,679 or less in 2020), women were overrepresented. Women made up 55% of workers in the lowest pay bands, compared to 48% of the total reported worker population.
• Among workers in the highest pay bands (earning $128,960 or more in 2020), women were underrepresented. Women made up 36% of workers in the highest pay bands.
• Among executives or senior level officials or managers, 34% were women.
• Among administrative support workers, 70% were women.

The findings related to race/ethnicity include:

• Among workers in the lowest pay bands (earning $30,679 or less in 2020), Hispanic/Latino and Black/African American workers were overrepresented. Hispanic/Latino workers made up 50% of workers in the lowest pay bands, compared to 37% of total reported workers. Black/African American workers made up 8% of workers in the lowest pay bands, compared to 6% of total reported workers. The lowest pay DFEH / PRESS RELEASE PAGE 2 bands also included 25% Whites, 10% Asians, 5% two or more races, 1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 1% American Indian or Alaskan Native.
• Among workers in the highest pay bands (earning $128,960 or more in 2020), Hispanic/Latino and Black/African American workers were underrepresented. Hispanic/Latino workers made up 9% of workers in the highest pay band, compared to 37% of total reported workers. Black/African American workers made up 3% of workers in the highest pay bands, compared to 6% of total reported workers. The highest pay bands also included 3% two or more races, 1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 0.3% American Indian or Alaskan Native.
• White and Asian workers were overrepresented in the highest pay bands (earning $128,960 or more in 2020). White workers made up 51% of workers in the highest pay bands, compared to 34% of total reported workers. Asian workers made up 33% of workers in the highest pay bands, compared to 18% of total reported workers.

These findings are based on data aggregated from reports submitted to DFEH in 2021 (covering calendar year 2020) by private employers under Senate Bill 973. Under that law, private employers with 100 or more employees anywhere in the United States, so long as they have one California employee, must annually report data on the pay, hours worked, job category, race/ethnicity, and sex of their California employees.

The 2020 findings announced today reflect data on 6.3 million employees working in approximately 14,000 California establishments but may not be representative of all of California’s workers. Data on employees reported as gender non-binary are undergoing additional confidentiality checks and will be published later.

For more information about the data, including the confidentiality of individual employer and employee information, visit: www.dfeh.ca.gov/paydatareporting/results

Employers’ pay data reports covering calendar year 2021 are due to DFEH by April 1, 2022. For more information about this ongoing collection, visit: www.dfeh.ca.gov/paydatareporting/