LGBTQ+ households make 15% less in household income compared to non-LGBTQ+ households, according to a new survey from the Center for American Progress. A large part of that, though, is because out LGBTQ+ adults tend to be much younger than non-LGBTQ+ adults.
June 17 is LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day, and the CAP released the results from its LGBTQI+ Community Survey, which found that LGBTQ+ households make 85 cents for every dollar earned by non-LGBTQ+ households. That’s the equivalent of a $12,580 a year difference.
Related
Study after study shows same-sex couples raise happy & healthy kids
The kids are alright, and we have lots of scientific research to back it up.
Transgender households faced an even larger pay gap, earning 70% of what non-LGBTQ+ households earn, and LGBTQ+ women households earned 52% of what non-LGBTQ+ households earned. It’s not clear from the results released by CAP what the pay gap is – if there is one – for queer cis men. It’s also not clear, since the results weren’t adjusted for age, whether the pay gaps for queer women and trans people were more or less affected by their relative youth.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
But they also found that LGBTQ+ adults are much younger than non-LGBTQ+ adults, with an average age of 33 compared to 48. People’s incomes generally increase during their adulthood, but younger LGBTQ+ people are more likely to be out and identify as LGBTQ+. The CAP’s results were not adjusted for age.
Another reason behind the pay disparity may be discrimination. Sixteen percent of non-LGBTQ+ people said they experienced some form of workplace discrimination compared to a quarter of LGBTQ+ people, according to a 2024 CAP survey.
“While our data on its own can’t explain the forces that create these wage gaps, we know the intersecting dynamics of sexism, racism, and discrimination likely play a key role,” CAP report authors Sara Estep and Haley Norris said in a press release, noting that the current administration has “defanged many of the agencies tasked with enforcing existing nondiscrimination laws and addressing these issues.”
The study was based on a survey of 3,360 U.S. adults, where 1,703 identified as LGBTQ+, and was conducted with the nonpartisan research organization NORC at the University of Chicago.
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.