San Diego Pay Equity Gap – NBC 7 San Diego

A report released by San Diego mayor Todd Gloria’s office is highlighting a wide disparity in compensation between the city’s employees.

According to a news release sent out Tuesday, San Diego municipal workers of color received, on average, nearly 21% less compensation than white workers, while women made an average of 17.6% percent less than their male counterparts.

“My administration is working toward creating a more equitable place for our dedicated, diverse workforce,” Gloria is quoted as saying in the news release. “Understanding the city’s challenges with pay equity is the first step and it won’t be our last.”

According to city officials, some progress has been made in gender pay equity since 2011, but as of 2019, that figure had only narrowed by 1.2%, down from 18.8%. However, “the racial and ethnic pay gap has grown (17.0% to 20.8%),” according to the news release.

As of 2019, according to the study, woman made up just 32% of the municipal workforce, while people of color made up 55%.

The study did not uncover any direct evidence of bias, officials said, who instead pointed to such factors as occupation, overtime and whether employees have children.

“In 2019, almost 90% of the city’s gender and racial-and-ethnic pay gaps can be explained in group disparities” among those factors, according to the study.

The news release stated that the city conducts a pay-equity study every three years.