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Latinas Remain the Lowest-Paid Group in the U.S. Workforce, Despite Historic Gains in Education

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Amada Armenta Contributor
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Jie Zong Staff
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Alondra Cervantes Fellows

LPPI’s national data analysis shows that in 2023, Latinas earned a median wage of just $17 per hour, compared to $25 for all men. When measured against their white male peers, the gap translates into more than $1 million in lost income over a lifetime — money that could have supported housing, health care, and wealth-building for their households.

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Contact: lppipress@luskin.ucla.edu

UCLA Factsheet Shows Latinas Remain the Lowest-Paid Group in the U.S. Workforce, Despite Historic Gains in Education

Data from LPPI’s Latino Data Hub reveals that record gains in college attainment have not closed the persistent wage gap for Latinas.

LOS ANGELES (October 1, 2025) — Latinas have doubled their college attainment in the last two decades and are projected to make up more than one in four women in the United States by 2060. A factsheet from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI), released ahead of Latina Equal Pay Day on October 8, shows that despite this progress and projected demographic growth, Latinas remain the lowest-paid major demographic group in the nation’s workforce.

LPPI’s national data analysis shows that in 2023, Latinas earned a median wage of just $17 per hour, compared to $25 for all men. When measured against their white male peers, the gap translates into more than $1 million in lost income over a lifetime — money that could have supported housing, health care, and wealth-building for their households.

Latina Equal Pay Day marks how far into the current year Latinas must work to earn what their white male peers made the year before. 

“Latinas are among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. workforce, yet they continue to remain at the bottom of the pay scale,” said Amada Armenta, faculty director at LPPI. “This is about pay equity and the future of the American economy. When Latinas and all women are paid what they deserve, families are stronger, communities thrive, and the future is brighter for our nation.”

The findings show that education alone is not enough to close the gap. A Latina with a bachelor’s degree earns $28 per hour, significantly less than Latino men ($34) and white men ($43) with the same level of education.

The analysis highlights that inequities vary by age, descent, and geography:

  • In 2023, young Latinas ages 16 to 24 earned 92 cents for every dollar earned by white men in the same age group, but Latinas ages 55 to 64 earned just 53 cents per dollar. 
  • Pay gaps also differ by descent, with Guatemalan and Honduran Latinas earning just over 50 cents per dollar compared to their white male counterparts, while Chilean and Argentine Latinas fare closer to 80 cents per dollar. 
  • In California — home to the nation’s largest Latina population — Latinas earn just 49 cents on the dollar, the widest gap of any state.

“Education has always been considered a pathway to mobility, but for Latinas, the pay gap persists after graduation,” said Alondra Cervantes, co-author of the brief and a policy fellow at LPPI. 

“These disparities are not isolated or accidental — they are structural,” added Armenta. “Latinas remain systematically undervalued, even as their role in powering the U.S. workforce grows.”

Read the factsheet here.

About UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute:

The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute is a non-partisan research institute that seeks to inform, engage, and empower Latinos through innovative research and policy analysis. LPPI aims to promote equitable and inclusive policies that address the needs of the Latino community and advance social justice. latino.ucla.edu.