The Chattanooga woman makes about 28 cents less on the dollar than the Chattanooga man.

That makes the city the seventh worst metro area in the country for women's pay compared with their male counterparts, according to census data compiled by online financial analysts 27/7 Wall St.

"A woman should be paid at the same rate as anyone else based on skills, knowledge and ability, and there should be no disparity in that," said Phyllis Qualls-Brooks, executive director of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women. "Set the pay scale based on those issues, not on favoritism, not on any other factors."

Chattanooga women make 72.4 percent of men's salaries.

Nationally, women earn 77.4 percent of what men make.

Part of Chattanooga's lower female pay may come from the city's large, traditionally male-dominated manufacturing presence. Manufacturing jobs typically pay more than those in female-dominated service industries.

"We have to make people aware of it just like we have to make them aware of gender, race, ability versus disability," Qualls-Brooks said. "

Contact Carey O'Neil at coneil@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6525. Follow him at twitter.com/careyoneil.