Women in Texas have made progress in recent years, but still face inequities that can prevent them from reaching their full potential. This fact sheet examines trends in Texas women’s status in the areas of employment and earnings, and poverty and opportunity. For each topic, data for women in Collin, Dallas, and Denton Counties are provided by race and ethnicity, revealing disparities within each county and across the region.
Women in Texas aged 16 and older who work full-time, year-round have median annual earnings of $37,400, which is 79.6 cents on the dollar compared with similarly employed men (Table 1). Women’s median earnings in Dallas County are similar to the state average, $37,511, and women in Denton and Collin counties have higher annual earnings ($46,362 and $50,691, respectively; Table 1). Asian/Pacific Islander women in Collin County have the highest earnings, at $64,907 annually, and Hispanic women in Dallas County have the lowest earnings, at $25,345
The gender wage gap is smallest in Dallas County, where women earn 92.6 cents on the dollar compared with men (Table 1). The gap is much wider in Denton County at 76.2 percent, and Collin County at 70.3 percent (Table 1). Hispanic women in Collin, Dallas, and Denton counties who work full-time, year-round earn less than half of White men’s earnings; in Dallas County, Hispanic women earn just 38.4 cents for every dollar earned by White men in the county (Table 2). About 58 percent of women in Texas aged 16 and older are in the labor force (Table 1). The labor force participation rate in all three counties—Collin (62.9 percent), Dallas (61.7 percent), and Denton (66.6 percent)—is higher than in the state overall (Table 1). Among women, Black women have the highest labor force participation rate in each county (Table 2).
A growing share of employed women in Texas are in managerial or professional occupations. About 40 percent of women in Texas hold these positions, which tend to require a four-year degree and often have higher wages and employment benefits (Table 1). The share of employed women in managerial or professional occupations varies by county, from a low of 37.9 percent in Dallas County to a high of 53.9 percent in Collin County (Table 1). Hispanic women in Collin, Dallas, and Denton counties are the racial/ethnic group of women least likely to be employed in managerial or professional occupations (Table 2).
Seventy-eight percent of Texas’s women aged 18 to 64 have health insurance coverage, which is below the national average for women (89.4 percent; Table 3). Fewer than three in four women in Dallas County have health insurance (74.0 percent), while 85.8 percent of women in Denton County and 87.7 percent of women in Collin County have coverage (Table 3). In all three counties, Hispanic women are the least likely to have health insurance (Table 4).
Approximately 29 percent of women aged 25 and older in Texas have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Educational attainment among women varies widely by race and ethnicity. Less than 10 percent of Hispanic women in Dallas County have a bachelor’s or advanced degree, while over 70 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander women in Collin County have that level of education (Table 4).
In Texas, 36.8 percent of businesses are owned by women, slightly above the national average of 35.8 percent. Seventeen percent of Texas women aged 18 and older live in poverty; smaller shares of women in Collin and Denton counties are poor (7.4 and 10.1 percent, respectively; Table 3). Comparing women in the three counties, White women in Collin County have the lowest poverty rate at 5.3 percent, and Hispanic women in Dallas County have the highest poverty rate at 22.8 percent (Table 4).
