County auditor releases 2025 Status of Women report; finds persistent pay gaps despite gains in education
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Summary
A county-commissioned, biennial report presented March 11 finds women in Broward County exceed men in educational attainment but continue to face double-digit pay gaps in many sectors; Broward County government’s full‑time employee median pay gap is reported at under 1 percent.
The Broward County Board of County Commissioners on March 11 accepted the 2025 Status of Women in Broward County biannual report, which the county auditor’s office and researcher Dr. Ilcheva of Florida International University presented to the board.
The report documents that women generally surpass men in educational attainment yet face persistent earnings disparities. "The pay gap between women and men working full time is almost 14% now," Dr. Ilcheva said during the presentation. The researcher also noted sector differences, with pay gaps of nearly 17% in educational services and just over 19% in health care and social assistance.
The county auditor’s office compiled data from multiple county departments to produce the report and recommended continued monitoring. Kathy Ann of the county auditor’s office thanked Dr. Ilcheva and staff for completing the report on an expedited timeline and for working with county departments to collect data.
Why this matters: Commissioners pointed to the report when discussing contracting, workforce development and county hiring practices. The report is intended to be a tool for county departments, community groups and employers to identify areas for policy or program interventions. "The report relies on numbers," Dr. Ilcheva said, noting the auditor’s office is well positioned to collect and validate the data.
Key findings and details: The presentation highlighted that women are slightly less likely to participate in the labor force and are more likely to work part time. When focusing on full‑time employees only, the report found a nearly 14 percent overall pay gap; the gap was largest for graduate‑degree holders, and large gaps remain in legal and certain occupational groups. At the same time, Broward County government’s median full‑time pay gap was reported as under 1 percent (0.4%), a result commissioners and the auditor characterized as positive.
The report also included non‑wage measures: human services clients served by the county rose by more than 20 percent to just under 25,000, and human trafficking reports remained at levels comparable to Miami‑Dade with 199 reports in the most recent period. The report flagged increases in some public‑safety signals, including rises in domestic‑violence and forcible‑sex‑offense metrics.
Commissioner questions and follow‑up: Commissioners asked whether the biennial cadence should be changed to annual. Dr. Ilcheva said annual reporting could be useful but cautioned that more frequent reporting increases the burden to collect consistent, high‑quality data and that the report’s value depends on follow‑through by community and county stakeholders. Commissioner Rogers asked how to capture year‑to‑year separations by gender; Dr. Ilcheva said that data exists in human resources but was not part of the current dataset and could be requested from the county HR division.
Board action: Commissioners placed the report on the consent agenda and approved it as part of the consent vote, moving the report into the county record without separate roll‑call discussion.
What happens next: The report’s authors and the auditor urged departments, the Commission on the Status of Women and community partners to use the findings to develop targeted recommendations and follow‑up work. Dr. Ilcheva said the report provides a basis for advocates and employers to pursue actions addressing identified disparities.
The presentation and accompanying materials were submitted by the county auditor and the researcher; commissioners encouraged wider dissemination of an executive summary for employers and community partners.
