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Economic resources are distributed unequally by gender, yet we have an incomplete understanding of how people perceive gender inequality in the US Across three studies (N= 1107), we investigate the antecedents and consequences of perceptions of gender economic inequality. In Studies 1 and 2, compared with federal data, participants consistently overestimated contemporary gender equality (eg, 2010’s) and progress toward gender equality from 1970s–2010s. Using a racially diverse sample (ie, Black, Latino, and White male respondents), Study 3 examined perceptions of gender economic equality at seven timepoints between 1973 and 2011. Participants in Study 3 underestimated gender equality in the past and began to overestimate gender equality from 2000, in a linear fashion. Both hostile sexism and belief in a just world consistently predicted overestimates of current gender economic equality (S1-S3). Overestimates predicted lower support for policies meant to address gender inequality (S1). We discuss practical and theoretical implications.