For the third consecutive year, SmartAsset has ranked Washington, D.C. as the best place for women in tech.
Yet the news comes with a slight caveat: the gender pay gap in D.C. widened between 2016 and 2017. SmartAsset reports that the female-to-male earnings ratio for computer and mathematical workers is 94.8 percent this year, down from 99.3 percent last year. (Of note, D.C.'s female-to-male earnings ratio is still higher than the national tech worker average, which sits at 84.8 percent.)
SmartAsset looked at 59 of the largest U.S. cities that had enough tech workers to provide reliable data from the Census Bureau. Then, the company ranked the cities based on four metric: gender pay gap in tech, income after housing costs, the percentage of women in the local tech workforce and four-year tech employment growth.
According to the analysis, women tech workers in D.C. make on average $56,416 per year after housing, 41 percent of tech jobs are filled by women and four-year tech employment growth has grown 17 percent.
“This recognition truly reflects D.C.’s values and why we continue to be the Capital of Inclusive Innovation,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser in a statement to DC Inno. “Through deliberate and coordinated efforts, we have made Washington, D.C. a hub of diversity and inclusivity, and as we continue expanding our tech community, supporting and investing in women will remain a top priority.”
Following close behind on the list are Kansas City in second, Baltimore in third and Indianapolis in fourth.
Arlington, Va., the only other local city included in the report, is ranked 22, which is a drastic improvement from its 34th ranking last year. The number of women in tech in Arlington has only risen slightly since last year, from 30.8 percent to 33.1 percent. And women tech workers in Arlington might have a bit more cash in their pockets compared to last year, with the average salary after housing costs coming in a $51,735 compared to $50,904 last year. But compared to their male counterparts, their incomes might not be as high. In 2017, the female-to-male tech worker ratio comes in at 79.9 percent, and last year, it was 79.1 percent. What's holding Arlington back? It's overall tech job growth, the report shows. For its four-year tech employment growth, Arlington's growth is stagnant at zero percent.
The SmartAsset report follows the District's Pathways to Inclusion report released at the end of November which showed that women made up about 37 percent of tech workers. The Pathways to Inclusion report put an ambitious action plan for D.C. to become to most "inclusive" tech hub into action. The goals: create 5,000 new tech jobs for underrepresented tech workers; create 500 new tech businesses founded by underrepresented entrepreneurs; and foster the "most inclusive culture" among tech ecosystems on the East Coast.
With the District backing the new Inclusive Innovation Incubator at Howard and the BEACON Initiative for women entrepreneurship, it could be said that they're well on their way to fostering an ecosystem that is most inclusive than most.
Take a look at the list for yourself:
