The salary differences between men and women are not a surprise in most industries and that includes healthcare.

Pay data that we collected during the nomination process for our Healthcare IT News Best Hospital IT Departments 2016 awards, however, uncovered some unexpected realities.

Consider: Even at the bottom of the pay scale men earn 22 percent more than women, while the widest disparity exists at the very top. One place where there is almost parity? The $175,000-$224,000 pay range. 

Here's a closer look at what we found:

First data point: For those in the lowest income range, 186 women have a salary under $49,000, while only 149 of their male counterparts shared this pay-range. This translates to a 22 percent disparity between women and men who make the lowest salaries.

Second data point: For the 1,224 men and 1,071 women IT employees at the mid-level salary range of $50,000 to $124,000, the pay disparity between men and women was significantly lower at about 13 percent. While fewer women make these salaries, the contrast is less severe.

Third data point: The second-most outstanding pay disparity at over 73 percent is for those IT employees in the $125,000 to $174,000 salary range. While 233 men make this wage in their departments, only 108 women earn this level of pay.

Fourth data point: The gap closes almost entirely at the $175,000 to $224,000 pay range with 43 men and 41 women earning a similar salary.

Fifth data point: The widest disparity comes when looking at IT professionals making more than $225,000. The data shows that of the 30 respondents, an overwhelming majority (21) men make the highest salary in comparison to only nine women. That’s an astronomical 80 percent difference in pay between genders.

The data for the above charts was collected from all 97 participants including the 20 winners. 

Healthcare IT News Best Hospital IT Departments 2016: 
⇒ Meet the winners
⇒ Post-EHR era: Bunk buzzword or almost here?
⇒Interactive map: Best Hospital IT Departments 
⇒ Gallery: The people behind winning IT shops