LGBTQ+ households earn 15% less than straight households, new study finds

According to a recent survey by the Center for American Progress (CAP), LGBTQ+ households earn 15% less in household income compared to non-LGBTQ+ households. This disparity is largely attributed to the fact that out LGBTQ+ adults tend to be significantly younger than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts.

June 17 marked LGBTQ+ Equal Pay Awareness Day, and CAP revealed findings from its LGBTQI+ Community Survey. According to ‘LGBTQ Nation’, the survey indicated that LGBTQ+ households earn 85 cents for every dollar that non-LGBTQ+ households make, translating to an annual difference of $12,580 (approximately £9,300). The pay gap is even wider for transgender households, which earn 70% of what non-LGBTQ+ households do, and LGBTQ+ women’s households earn only 52%. The survey did not clarify the pay gap for queer cis men or whether age influenced the pay gaps for queer women and trans people, as the results were unadjusted for age.

The survey also highlighted that LGBTQ+ adults are considerably younger than non-LGBTQ+ adults, with an average age of 33 as opposed to 48. Typically, incomes rise throughout adulthood, but younger LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely to come out and identify as LGBTQ+. However, the CAP results did not account for age adjustments.

Discrimination could be another factor contributing to this wage gap. According to a 2024 CAP survey, while 16% of non-LGBTQ+ individuals reported experiencing workplace discrimination, this figure rises to 25% among LGBTQ+ people.

“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,” stated CAP report authors Sara Estep and Haley Norris in a press release. They noted that the current administration has weakened several agencies responsible for upholding nondiscrimination laws and addressing such issues.

The study’s data were collected from a survey of 3,360 U.S.A. adults, with 1,703 identifying as LGBTQ+, and was conducted in partnership with the nonpartisan research organisation NORC at the University of Chicago.