Report: Here's how Houston ranks in terms of its gender pay gap

by the numbers

It's 2024 and women are still making less money than men. Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

It's 2024 and women are still making less money than men, thus keeping the unfortunate reality of the wage gap alive. But at least in Houston, the wage gap isn't as bad as other Texas cities, according to a new earnings study by Chamber of Commerce.

Houston ranked No. 142 on the list, which examined earnings for full-time workers in 170 of the most populous cities in the United States.

The study found that, in 2024, men in Houston are currently making $4,474 more than women — a figure that's significantly lower than the national wage gap, which is a little over $11,000.

The U.S. city with the worst gender pay gap is none other than Frisco, a Dallas suburb. Men in Frisco are currently making a staggering $52,216 more than women, which is more than $12,000 more than the gap in 2023.

Also in North Texas, McKinney remained in the No. 5 spot for the second consecutive year. McKinney men make $24,568 more than women, which is a $4,400 decrease year-over-year. Plano's gender wage gap has worsened since 2023: The Dallas suburb is now listed among the top 10 worst pay gaps in the U.S., climbing to No. 6. The study says the Plano's wage gap is now $23,415, or nearly $2,300 more than last year.

Statewide gender pay gap

Chamber of Commerce found that Texas' gender pay gap has increased since last year; The 2023 study found that women made nearly $11,000 less than men, and that discrepancy has widened in 2024 to nearly $12,000.

However, Texas' ranking has improved 10 spots from No. 29 last year to No. 19 this year.

For added context, New Hampshire has the No. 1 worst pay gap in the nation, with men making over $18,000 more than women.

Other Texas cities that earned spots in the report are:

  • No. 20 – Amarillo
  • No. 22 – Laredo
  • No. 24 – Austin
  • No. 30 – Corpus Christi
  • No. 31 – Pasadena
  • No. 33 – Irving
  • No. 52 – Lubbock
  • No. 59 – El Paso
  • No. 65 – Grand Prairie
  • No. 81 – Fort Worth
  • No. 118 – Dallas
  • No. 121 – San Antonio
  • No. 125 – Arlington
  • No. 167 – Brownsville
  • No. 168 – Garland

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

A new study finds how Houston — and other Texas cities — rank in terms of the pay gap between male and female workers. Photo via Getty Images

How Houston stacks up when it comes to its gender pay gap

mind the gap

Pi wasn't the only thing celebrated yesterday on March 14. Equal Pay Day is also celebrated on the same day — a day to examine the decades of advocacy to extinguish the pay gap between men and women.

Unfortunately, nationwide the gap is still large. The latest Census Bureau says women make 18 percent less money than men do. We know the numbers for Texas and several of its cities, thanks to a new study by small biz experts Chamber of Commerce. They investigated the earnings for full-time workers in 170 of the most populous cities in the United States.

The analysis found that Texas has the 29th largest pay gap out of all 50 states, with women making nearly $11,000 less than men. Texas women can be glad they don’t live in Wyoming, which has the largest pay gap of the states at almost $19,000.

The city with the largest gender pay gap in the United States is Sunnyvale, California, home to Silicon Valley, with an earnings difference of $40,584 between men and women. Actually, California cities make up half of the top 10 largest gender pay gaps.

Texas, however, has two towns in the top 10. Coming in at No. 2 is Frisco and McKinney lands at No. 5. Frisco men make nearly $40,000 more than women, while McKinney men make $29,000 more than women. Just outside the top 10 is Plano at No. 12, with their gender pay gap adding up to $20,736.

How does Houston fair? Not too shabby, actually. The Bayou City landed at the No. 114 spot out of 170 of the most-populated cities in the U.S. Dallas actually has the smallest gender pay gap in Texas, coming in at No. 166 with just $192 between full-time working men and women.

Here's how the rest of Texas ranks:

  • No. 13 – Austin
  • No. 25 – Pasadena
  • No. 30 – Lubbock
  • No. 45 – Fort Worth
  • No. 70 – Irving
  • No. 71 – Corpus Christi
  • No. 74 – San Antonio
  • No. 89 – Arlington
  • No. 93 – Grand Prairie
  • No 97 – El Paso
  • No. 101 – Laredo
  • No. 110 – Amarillo
  • No. 125 – Brownsville
  • No. 134 – Garland

The full study can be found on chamberofcommerce.org.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Four major metros in Texas have teamed up to advocate for the LGBT community. VlatkoRadovic/Getty Images

Texas LGBT chambers of commerce form coalition to advocate for the community

One for all

The LGBT chambers of commerce in the Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas areas have combined forces to create the Texas LGBT Chambers of Commerce with the mission of advancing and advocating for LGBT business leaders and allies within the state.

The four founding entities of the coalition represent over 1,000 LGBT-owned and LGBT-allied business interests, according to a release.

"The Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce is proud to stand with our sister LGBT chambers across the state to bring the power of our collective voices to advocate on behalf of the LGBT business community," says Tammi Wallace, co-founder and chair of the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce, in the release. "Representing hundreds of LGBT-owned and LGBT-allied businesses — and growing — our work together is even more important as we unify to represent our members through advocacy and other collaborative opportunities."

The coalition will host an advocacy day at the Texas Capital on Feb. 20 with the goal being to introduce lawmakers to the coalition and address business issues regarding the LGBT community, according to the release

"There is power in numbers," says Clint Thomson, chair of the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce, in the release. "This new alliance will enable us to work collectively on behalf of all LGBT-owned and LGBT-allied businesses throughout the Lone Star State."

The group effort is a response to the anti-transgender "bathroom bill" that was introduced to lawmakers in the 2017 Texas Legislative Session. While the bill didn't pass, a study showed that it would have had a negative economic impact of $8.5 billion and a loss of 185,000 jobs.

"The Texas LGBT Chambers of Commerce intends to prevent any and all anti-LGBT, economy-damaging measures from becoming law in Texas at the state and local levels," says Chase Kincannon, chair of the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, in the release.

As of January 29, no legislation regarding the LGBT community was recognized as active within the 86th Texas Legislative Session.

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Baylor College of Medicine names Minnesota med school dean as new president, CEO ​

new leader

Dr. Jakub Tolar, dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School, is taking over as president, CEO and executive dean of Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine on July 1.

Tolar—who’s also vice president for clinical affairs at the University of Minnesota and a university professor—will succeed Dr. Paul Klotman as head of BCM. Klotman is retiring June 30 after leading Texas’ top-ranked medical school since 2010.

In tandem with medical facilities such as Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor trains nearly half of the doctors who work at Texas Medical Center. In addition, Baylor is home to the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Texas Heart Institute.

The hunt for a new leader at Baylor yielded 179 candidates. The medical school’s search firm interviewed 44 candidates, and the pool was narrowed to 10 contenders who were interviewed by the Board of Trustees’ search committee. The full board then interviewed the four finalists, including Tolar.

Greg Brenneman, chair of Baylor’s board and the search committee, says Tolar is “highly accomplished” in the core elements of the medical school’s mission: research, patient care, education and community service.

“Baylor is phenomenal. Baylor is a superpower in academic medicine,” Tolar, a native of the Czech Republic, says in a YouTube video filmed at the medical school. “And everything comes together here because science saves lives. That is the superpower.”

Tolar’s medical specialties include pediatric blood and bone marrow transplants. His research, which he’ll continue at Baylor, focuses on developing cellular therapies for rare genetic disorders. In the research arena, he’s known for his care of patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a severe genetic skin disorder.

In a news release, Tolar praises Baylor’s “achievements and foundation,” as well as the school’s potential to advance medicine and health care in “new and impactful ways.”

The Baylor College of Medicine employs more than 9,300 full-time faculty and staff. For the 2025-26 academic year, nearly 1,800 students are enrolled in the School of Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and School of Health Professions. Its M.D. program operates campuses in Houston and Temple.

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2024, Baylor recorded $2.72 billion in operating revenue and $2.76 billion in operating expenses.

The college was founded in 1900 in Dallas and relocated to Houston in 1943. It was affiliated with Baylor University in Waco from 1903 to 1969.

$50 million for Houston ibogaine research tops innovation news to know

News to know

Editor's note: The Houston innovation scene is entering 2026 with fresh funding for startups and major grants for innovative health treatments and neurological research. Here are the five most-read InnovationMap stories to start the new year, published Jan. 1-15, 2026:

1. Houston hospitals win $50M grant for ibogaine addiction treatment research

UTHealth Houston and UTMB will lead IMPACT, an initiative working toward ibogaine-based treatments for addiction and neurological issues. Photo via Pexels.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has awarded $50 million to UTHealth Houston in collaboration with The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB Health) to co-lead a multicenter research trial to evaluate the effect of ibogaine, a powerful psychoactive compound, on patients suffering from addiction, traumatic brain injury and other behavioral health conditions. The funding will establish a two-year initiative—known as Ibogaine Medicine for PTSD, Addiction, and Cognitive Trauma (IMPACT)—and a consortium of Texas health institutions focused on clinical trials and working toward potential FDA-approved treatments. Continue reading.

2. Rice scientist earns $600K NSF award to study distractions in digital age

Kirsten Adam, a Rice psychologist, is studying how the brain refocuses in the age of screens, instant gratification and other lingering distractions. Photo via Pexels.

Rice University psychologist Kirsten Adam has received a $600,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Award to research how visual distractions like phone notifications, flashing alerts, crowded screens and busy workspaces can negatively impact focus—and how the brain works to try to regain it. Adam’s work will aim to clarify how the brain refocuses in the age of screens, instant gratification and other lingering distractions. The funding will also be used to train graduate students in advanced cognitive neuroscience methods, expand access to electroencephalography (EEG) and for public data sharing. Continue reading.

3. TMC launches new biotech partnership with Republic of Korea

The Texas Medical Center and KBIOHealth have launched the TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge. Photo via LinkedIn.

Houston's Texas Medical Center has launched its new TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge. The new partnership brings together the TMC with the Osong Medical Innovation Foundation, or KBIOHealth. The Biobridge aims to support the commercialization of Korean biotech and life science startups in the U.S., foster clinical research, and boost collaboration in the public, private and academic sectors. Continue reading.

4. CPRIT CEO: Houston’s $2B in funding is transforming cancer research and prevention

Kristen Doyle, CEO of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Photo courtesy CPRIT.

With its plethora of prestigious health care organizations like the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UTHealth Houston, and the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston sits at the heart of cancer research and prevention in Texas. Of course, it takes piles of cash to support Houston’s status as the state’s hub for cancer research and prevention. Much of that money comes from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Data supplied by CPRIT shows organizations in Harris County gained $2.3 billion in institute funding from 2009 through 2025, or nearly $145 million per year. That represents almost 60 percent of the roughly $4 billion that CPRIT has granted to Texas institutions over a 16-year period. Continue reading.

5. 14 Houston startups starting 2026 with fresh funding

From groundbreaking energy leaders to growing space startups, here's who secured funding in the last six months of 2025. Photo via Getty Images

Houston startups closed out the last half of 2025 with major funding news. Here are 14 Houston companies—from groundbreaking energy leaders to growing space startups—that secured funding in the last six months of the year, according to reporting by InnovationMap and our sister site EnergyCapitalHTX.com. Continue reading.

​Planned UT Austin med center, anchored by MD Anderson, gets $100M gift​

med funding

The University of Texas at Austin’s planned multibillion-dollar medical center, which will include a hospital run by Houston’s University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, just received a $100 million boost from a billionaire husband-and-wife duo.

Tench Coxe, a former venture capitalist who’s a major shareholder in chipmaking giant Nvidia, and Simone Coxe, co-founder and former CEO of the Blanc & Otus PR firm, contributed the $100 million—one of the largest gifts in UT history. The Coxes live in Austin.

“Great medical care changes lives,” says Simone Coxe, “and we want more people to have access to it.”

The University of Texas System announced the medical center project in 2023 and cited an estimated price tag of $2.5 billion. UT initially said the medical center would be built on the site of the Frank Erwin Center, a sports and entertainment venue on the UT Austin campus that was demolished in 2024. The 20-acre site, north of downtown and the state Capitol, is near Dell Seton Medical Center, UT Dell Medical School and UT Health Austin.

Now, UT officials are considering a bigger, still-unidentified site near the Domain mixed-use district in North Austin, although they haven’t ruled out the Erwin Center site. The Domain development is near St. David’s North Medical Center.

As originally planned, the medical center would house a cancer center built and operated by MD Anderson and a specialty hospital built and operated by UT Austin. Construction on the two hospitals is scheduled to start this year and be completed in 2030. According to a 2025 bid notice for contractors, each hospital is expected to encompass about 1.5 million square feet, meaning the medical center would span about 3 million square feet.

Features of the MD Anderson hospital will include:

  • Inpatient care
  • Outpatient clinics
  • Surgery suites
  • Radiation, chemotherapy, cell, and proton treatments
  • Diagnostic imaging
  • Clinical drug trials

UT says the new medical center will fuse the university’s academic and research capabilities with the medical and research capabilities of MD Anderson and Dell Medical School.

UT officials say priorities for spending the Coxes’ gift include:

  • Recruiting world-class medical professionals and scientists
  • Supporting construction
  • Investing in technology
  • Expanding community programs that promote healthy living and access to care

Tench says the opportunity to contribute to building an institution from the ground up helped prompt the donation. He and others say that thanks to MD Anderson’s participation, the medical center will bring world-renowned cancer care to the Austin area.

“We have a close friend who had to travel to Houston for care she should have been able to get here at home. … Supporting the vision for the UT medical center is exactly the opportunity Austin needed,” he says.

The rate of patients who leave the Austin area to seek care for serious medical issues runs as high as 25 percent, according to UT.

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