Charlotte's gender gap: $3.1 billion in income

A new study, released for "Equal Pay Day" April 9, shows that women who work full-time jobs in the Charlotte area are paid 76 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to an annual gap in wages of $11,906.

That translates to more than $3.1 billion in lost income for local women every year, according to the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group National Partnership for Women & Families, which conducted the analysis based on U.S. Census Bureau data. 

If the Charlotte-area gap were eliminated, the analysis says, each full-time working woman could afford to: pay for food for two more years, buy more than 3,200 more gallons of gas, pay mortgage and utilities for nine more months or pay rent for 15 more months. 

The Charlotte-area average of 76 cents for every dollar paid to men is lower than the North Carolina average (80 cents) and the national average (77 cents). 

The Paycheck Fairness Act, reintroduced in Congress in January and supported by the National Partnership, is designed to fight against wage discrimination and establish stronger workplace protections for men. 

More key stats from the study:  

• African American women and Latinas fare worse. African American women are paid 64 cents for every dollar paid to men, and Latinas are paid 55 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. 

• Since the Equal Pay Act in 1963, the wage gap has been closing at a rate of less than one-half a cent per year. given that rate, the study says, women will not reach equal pay for more than 40 years. 

• More than 92,000 Charlotte-area households are headed by women. More than 31,200 of those women-headed households are below the poverty line. 

See the full Charlotte report here. 

The analysis spans all 50 states and country's 50-largest metropolitan areas. Check other city and state rankings here.