Equal Pay Day: March 26, 2026

The date of Equal Pay Day symbolizes how many extra days into the new year women have to work to earn what men earned the prior year.

This year, Equal Pay Day falls on March 26, a day later than in 2025 but 16 days before the first Equal Pay Day, April 11, 1996.

While an earlier date may signal progress in narrowing the pay gap between men and women, U.S. Census Bureau data show disparities persist, even in women-dominated occupations. 

Despite gains, women — who made up 44 percent of all U.S. full-time, year-round workers in 2024 — still earned significantly less than men, with median earnings at 83 percent of men’s, according to a table package from the American Community Survey (ACS) one-year estimates.

Among select major occupation groups, the earnings gap was widest in Natural Resources, Construction, and Maintenance Occupations (74.1 percent) and in Production, Transportation and Material Moving Occupations (74.9 percent).

(Note: There was no significant difference between women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s for Natural Resources, Construction, and Maintenance occupations and Production, Transportation and Material Moving Occupations.)

The Equal Pay Act requires men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work, including salary, overtime and benefits.