A new study by research firm business.org placed New Jersey at the middle of the pack among U.S. states when it comes to wage discrepancies between men and women.

The firm found that nationwide, men will earn $10,381 more in 2022 than women. And every state will show at least a 10% lower median pay for women compared to men. Washington, D.C., is the only jurisdiction with a gap of less than 10%, at 8.1%. Wyoming had the widest gap, at 34.6%.

In New Jersey, women earn 19.8% less than men, according to the study — $57, 423 versus $71,604 — placing the Garden State at No. 26, one spot lower than Massachusetts and just above Connecticut. Among neighboring states, New York ranked third at 11.6% and Pennsylvania held the No. 34 spot at 20.7%.

Among occupations, securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents showed the widest gap, with men earning 44% more than women. Legal occupations and medical scientists both showed a gap of 40%.

The report found several occupations in which women earn more than men: compliance officer (7% more); graphic designers (6%); clinical laboratory technologist and technicians (4%); and insurance claims processing and policy clerks (2%). Cashiers, fast food and counter workers, and school bus drivers show nearly equal pay for women and men.

“Experts have considered various reasons for the gender pay gap,” the report, which was prepared by business.org Staff Writer Trevor Wheelwright, noted. “Examples range from women choosing to stay home for family, choosing lower-paying jobs, or having less education. However, other examples point to bias and discrimination, a lack of flexible support for work, and other social factors like racial discrimination.”

In fact, the report cited Pew Research findings showing that women have higher educational attainment than men, which helps close the overall pay gap. “But comparing equal education levels between men and women shows an even greater gender wage gap. This means working women are more educated than their male counterparts but earn less at equal levels of education.”

In addition, business.org said its own pay raise survey showed that men are willing to ask for bigger raises than women. “[T]he highest percentage of men (31%) responded that they’re willing to ask for a 10%-12% increase, while the highest percentage of women (30%) reported they’re only willing to ask for 6%-9% increases.”

Business.org asked employers what they do to address pay equity. “The responses mostly revolve around employers reviewing and reporting their employees’ salaries across experience levels, roles, etc., on a regular basis, as well as communicating an open dialogue around salary.”

States were ranked based on the percentage difference between women’s and men’s earnings for full-time, year-round workers. This data comes from the 2020 American Community Survey, which encountered significant data sampling issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.