The North London Borough of Haringey has a population of 226,000, of which 112,800 are women and 113,400 are men. Wokingham Borough, in Berkshire, is home to 159,000 people. 80,100 of these are women, 79,000 are men.
Wokingham has one of the highest average household incomes in the country, far above the national average of £32,779. Haringey's average household income is below both the national average and the London average of £28,772.
Haringey and Wokingham sit at different ends of the pay gap spectrum. In Haringey women earn 2% more than men, while women in Wokingham earn 31.7% less than their male counterparts, a far wider gap than the 17.1% national average.
We chose Haringey and Wokingham because they sit among the most and least equal areas of the country respectively. They were also interesting because of their relative levels of wealth and their contrasting political make-ups.
Haringey's workforce is 53% female, while Wokingham's is 48% women.
Though Haringey has fewer men in full-time work than Wokingham, it has an extra 1,000 employed women. In both boroughs, however, more men than women work full-time.
In both Haringey and Wokingham, part-time female workers drastically outnumber part-time male workers, in line with national trends. Commentators have suggested that larger numbers of women in part-time work contributes to the gender pay gap.
Self-employed men and women are more common in Haringey than in Wokingham. In both areas, more men than women are self-employed.
Most occupations are dominated to some degree by one gender (with the exception of associate professional and technical occupations - a very broad category). The two highest paid categories employ a higher number of men. Pay disparities between male- and female-dominated occupations is a central factor in the overall pay gap.
In both Haringey and Workingham, a large proportion of households with children include children under the age of four.
Haringey is a left-leaning borough, with 30 council seats held by Labour, and the remaining 27 seats held by Lib Dems. Haringey has one Labour and one Lib Dem MP.
Wokingham council is dominated by Conservatives, who hold 44 of the borough's 54 council seats. Wokingham's four MPs are all Conservatives as well.