Washington, D.C. — The average LGBTQI+ household made just 85 cents for every dollar earned by non-LGBTQI+ households last year, according to new data from the Center for American Progress.
The latest findings from CAP’s biennial LGBTQI+ Community Survey weigh the state of America’s LGBTQI+ community in 2024, including data on health care access, employment, housing, and more. This analysis sheds light on existing income gaps based on employees’ LGBTQI+ status and race.
Key findings from the survey include:
- The wage gap for an average LGBTQI+ household equaled nearly $12,600 in lost income over the course of 2024.
- The income gap faced by transgender and nonbinary households compared with non-LGBTQI+ households resulted in an annual loss of $24,800 over the same period.
- LGBTQI+ women of color and nonbinary people were less likely than other groups analyzed to live in a household earning $100,000 or more per year.
- In 2024, approximately one-fourth of all LGBTQI+ people reported experiencing discrimination in the workplace.
The report’s analysis includes data from a nationally representative group of 3,360 people over age 18, 1,703 of whom identify as LGBTQI+. It was conducted in partnership with nonpartisan research group NORC at the University of Chicago.
“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,” said Sara Estep, economist for the Women’s Initiative at CAP and co-author of the column. “At the same time, the Trump administration has defanged many of the agencies tasked with enforcing existing nondiscrimination laws and addressing these issues.”
“When enforcement against discrimination is lacking, it harms LGBTQI+ folks and threatens their lifelong economic stability,” said Haley Norris, policy analyst for LGBTQI+ Policy at CAP and co-author of the column. “People with intersecting marginalized identities experience worse workplace discrimination and tend to suffer larger disparities in household income. The Trump administration’s rollback of nondiscrimination laws is going to hit these people the hardest.”
Read the column: “The 2024 LGBTQI+ Wage Gap” by Sara Estep and Haley Norris
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Mishka Espey at [email protected].