26 Stats about Women in Government

When we started GovFem, we received a lot of positive feedback (thanks!). But we also got a few questions from GovLoopers about how much progress women have made in government, what resources they have, and what the future looks like for female govies.

To give you a better idea of what the landscape looks like for women, we compiled the following 26 facts and figures about female representation in all levels of government:

Congress

• In the 114th Congress, there are 20 women who serve as senators and 84 women who serve as representatives Tweet this
• That’s only 19.4 percent of the total 535 seats in Congress Tweet this
• That’s below the international average of 21.9 percent of women in national legislatures, and puts the U.S. at 75th out of 189 elected governments in the world for female representation in parliament, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union Tweet this
• Four states — Delaware, Iowa, Mississippi, and Vermot — have never sent a women to the Senate or House Tweet this
• If we progress at our current rate, we can expect women to be equally represented in Congress in 500 years, according to Representation 2020 Tweet this

The Federal Government

• About 44 percent of federal jobs are held by women, according to the EEOC’s most recent Women’s Work Group Report Tweet this
• But only 31 percent of government IT positions are held by women, according to the same EEOC report Tweet this
• 37.8 percent of GS-14 and GS-15 positions and 30 percent of Senior Executive Service positions are also held by women Tweet this
• 3 women currently occupy positions on the Cabinet while 2 others hold cabinet-level positions Tweet this
• 37 percent of federal hires were women in 2012, compared to 43 percent in 2000 according to a Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) report Tweet this
• Of the 19 large federal agencies, the Social Security Administration currently has the highest percentage of female employees with 67.2 percent, according to the a Best Places to Work survey Tweet this
• Of those same agencies, the Department of Transportation ranks lowest with only 26.4 percent of its positions held by women Tweet this
• In the federal executive branch, the average salary for a female employee is $75,630 compared to $86,159 for men, according to OPM Tweet this

State and Local Government

• 30 percent of local government department leaders are women, but only 13 percent of Chief Administrative Officers (CAO) are female, according to a recent ICMA report Tweet this
• The percentage of women holding local government CAO roles is the same as it was 34 years ago, in 1981, according to the same report Tweet this
• As of 2013, 24.1 percent of state legislators are women, according to the National Women’s Political Caucus  (NWPC) Tweet this
• Colorado ranks highest among states with female representation, with 41 percent of state legislative seats held by women Tweet this
• Among the largest 100 cities in the U.S., only 12 have female mayors, according to the NWPC Tweet this
• The median salary for women in state government is $42,168.20 versus $48,830.50 for men, according to the EEOC’s most recent figures Tweet this
• The wage gap is slightly wider for city positions, with median salary for women being $46,111.50 versus $54,169 for men Tweet this

Given these low numbers, we feel it’s especially important to provide resources for women in government. That’s the purpose of GovFem. Our former posts, including one on increasing female applicants to government jobs and one on confronting sexism at work, can all be found at this link. Check them out, and stay tuned for more!

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