GENDER INEQUALITY IN NONMETROPOLITAN AND METROPOLITAN-AREAS

Nonmetropolitan-metropolitan differences in the United States are larg e and growing, but we know relatively little about how they interact w ith gender differences. Using data from the CPS, the Census PUMS, and the GSS, we find nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas are quite simi lar in the gender gap in earnings and in rates of married women's labo r force participation. Occupational sex segregation is higher and some gender attitudes are a few percentage points less egalitarian in nonm etropolitan areas. Each of these dimensions of gender stratification h as been declining over the last two decades and the declines are rough ly similar in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas. Variations in ge nder stratification have been greater over time than across place. Thu s, while both place and gender are important dimensions of stratificat ion, there appears to have been little interaction between the two.