Latinas are one of the fastest-growing demographic groups in the United States, and the share of Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher has more than doubled over the past two decades.

Yet Latinas have the lowest median hourly wage of any racial or ethnic group — $17 in 2023, compared to $25 for all men, $28 for white men and $34 for Asian American and Pacific Islander men.

These are some of the findings from a nationwide data analysis by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute. It was released in advance of Latina Equal Pay Day, Oct. 8, which marks how far into the current year Latinas must work to earn what their white male peers earned the previous year. Among the report’s insights:

• Younger Latinas are closer to wage equality. In 2023, for every dollar earned by white men in the same age group, Latinas ages 16 to 24 earned 92 cents while Latinas ages 55 to 64 earned 53 cents.
• National descent is a factor. Latinas with Guatemalan and Honduran roots earned 54 cents per dollar made by white male counterparts. Those with Chilean and Argentine backgrounds made 79 cents and 82 cents, respectively.
• California is the U.S. state with the largest pay gap for Latinas. Vermont, which has the smallest Latina population, is the closest to reaching pay equality.

“Latinas remain systematically undervalued, even as their role in powering the U.S. workforce grows,” said LPPI faculty director Amada Armenta, associate professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin.

“When Latinas and all women are paid what they deserve, families are stronger, communities thrive, and the future is brighter for our nation.”

View the full report on LPPI’s Latino Data Hub.