San Jose tops the list, followed by San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Can where you hang your hat shape the size of your salary? Absolutely. U.S. job markets vary drastically by region, state and municipality. Women, who earn between 70 and 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, may be especially impacted by the place they call home.

To uncover the U.S. cities where women earn the most, ForbesWoman analyzed data from the 2010 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, using the average earnings for full-time, year-round female workers in the largest metro areas in the nation.

At No. 1, San Jose, Calif., tops the list. Women in this West Coast city earn an average of $67,052 annually for full-time work. That’s more than twice as much as the worst-paying city for women — McAllen, Texas — where women earn a mean of just $31,287 each year.

Forbes.com slideshow: See the 20 best-paying cities For women

The top industries in San Jose are: manufacturing; professional, scientific and management services; and education and health care — and most workers are employed with private institutions. Women likely earn more here because 43.7 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher and are concentrated in management, business, science and arts occupations (48.4 percent) rather than service jobs (17.4 percent).

Read More on MSN Money http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46166109/ns/business-forbes_com/

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