Oct 17, 2024 - News
Philadelphia metro has more women than men
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The Philly metro has one of the highest women-to-men ratios among major U.S. cities.
Why it matters: Gender differences — if they grow — could help drive deep rifts in American society.
Driving the news: The Philly metro area has 105.5 women for every 100 men on average, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
- For regions with populations above 1.5 million, Philly's gender gap is among the largest in the country — outdone only by Atlanta and Baltimore.
Between the lines: Big cities and areas with college campuses typically have more women than men, the Census Bureau said in a report last year.
- There's a wide gender gap in college enrollment: Women made up 58% of the total undergraduate population in 2021.
- Another possible explanation for the gender gaps in Philly, Atlanta and Baltimore is mass incarceration, which has removed hundreds of thousands of men from Black neighborhoods.
Zoom out: Men outnumber women the most in San Jose, California (103.9 men per 100 women), followed by Austin, Texas, and San Diego.
- The San Diego metro area, dotted with military bases, has almost 104 men for every 100 women, according to U.S. Census data. Men make up more than 80% of America's armed forces.
- Silicon Valley and Austin host a big share of U.S. tech companies, which employ a workforce that's almost two-thirds male.