gender wage gap

A new study by NerdWallet found 22 U.S. cities where women earn more than men.

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"It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women," actress Patricia Arquette said at the 2015 Oscars.

But believe it or not, the gender wage gap actually favors women in 22 cities in America. And one of them's in New York.

According to Forbes, recent U.S. Census data shows women make 78 cents for every dollar a man earns. That's up from 2005, when the median annual income for full-time female workers was 76.6 percent as much as a full-time male employee.

The tide has shifted even more in some parts of the country, though.

A new study by personal finance website NerdWallet analyzed the few places (out of 492 cities nationwide) where ladies earned more in 2013, including No. 4 Albany. In New York's capital, where the median income is $29,814, women make $1.11 for every dollar men earn.

However, most of the cities that favor women are poorer. Top-ranked Inglewood, California, sees women make 120.6 percent of what men do, but median income is $25,749, a whopping $4,705 below the U.S. median.

But 22 is up from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey last year, which found only 16 cities where women make more than men. (Syracuse barely made that list, with women earning 100.57 percent as much as a man's salary, but didn't make the latest cut.)

And Forbes reports a different study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) found last week that, among millennials in New York City, women make $1.02 for every dollar earned by men.

Meanwhile, some critics say the gender wage gap is inaccurate or doesn't exist. Forbes points out the statistics fail to include education levels, types of jobs or hours worked, and the Independent Institute argues comparing certain male-dominated fields (i.e. military, computer science, economics) to those with more women (healthcare, education) "isn't comparing apples to apples."

What do you think? Is the idea of a gender wage gap changing?

U.S. cities where women make more than men

1. Inglewood, California (women's income as a percentage of men's: 120.6%)

2. Trenton, New Jersey (118.2%)

3. Orlando, Florida (113.3%)

4. Albany, New York (111.3%)

5. Carson, California (109.3%)

6. Hollywood, Florida (109.0%

7. Oakland, California (108.8%)

8. Elk Grove, California (105.9%)

9. Hayward, California (104.5%)

10. Miramar, Florida (104.1%)

11. Yakima, Washington (103.2%)

12. Birmingham, Alabama (102.3%)

13. Wilmington, North Carolina (102.2%)

14. Escondido, California (101.5%)

15. Las Cruces, New Mexico (101.1%)

16. Deltona, Florida (100.9%)

17. South Gate, California (100.8%)

18. Dallas, Texas (100.5%)

19. Richmond, California (100.3%)

20. Silver Spring, Maryland (100.3%)

21. Chattanooga, Tennessee (100.3%)

22. West Palm Beach, Florida (100.2%)