US cities have 2 women for every man: here's where the gender divide is best and worst

If you've ever looked around where you live and thought, "Man, there's a lot of dudes here," or "There's women everywhere," your eyes aren't deceiving you.

While women make up 50.5% of the United States population, according to  according to U.S. Census data, a new analysis of America's gender divide shows the gap is "turning into a regional rivalry."

According to Axios , there are more men in the West and more women in the East.

The analysis shows that on average, there's 102 women for every 100 men in the country. But the pendulum swings depending on where you live.

Among metros with populations larger than 1.5 million, Axios found that women most heavily outnumbered adult men in Baltimore (107.2), Atlanta (105.6), Philadelphia (105.5) and New York (105).

On the other hand, men most heavily outnumber women in San Jose (103.9), Austin (103.1), San Diego (102.2) and Seattle (102.1).

The numbers align with data from the 2022 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the Census Bureau. A ratio above 100 indicates more men than women, below 100 means more women than men:

San Francisco County, CA --106.4
Kern County, CA -- 105.1
Travis County, TX -- 104.1
Santa Clara County, CA -- 103.9
El Paso County, CO -- 103.5
United States -- 96.6
Philadelphia County, PA --87.2
Jefferson County, AL -- 87.2
DeKalb County, GA -- 87.1
Bronx County, NY -- 85.7
Baltimore City, MD -- 84.1

There's several factors driving the divide, but institutions and industries appear to have the most impact. The Associated Press notes that areas with military bases and plentiful jobs in the tech sector, both male-dominated fields, are mainly based in the West.

On the other hand, areas with large numbers of colleges or universities tend to have more women, which may not be surprising considering women made up 58% of the total undergraduate population in 2021, Axios noted.