Best locations for female entrepreneurs in the U.S.

Female entrepreneurship has been on an upward climb over the past several years. In fact, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, “U.S. business ownership rose 27.5 per cent for women, and overall, America added one million net, new businesses from 2007 to 2012, a period in which U.S. employment fell by 3.8 million.”

Personal finance site NerdWallet took a look at the metropolitan areas in the U.S. providing the greatest opportunities for those female entrepreneurs. To do that they looked at indicators such as business climate, including the average revenue per business of women-owned businesses, the percentage of women-owned businesses per 100 residents, and the percentage of women-owned businesses with employees. They also considered local economic factors such as unemployment rate, median annual income for women, and median annual income for women as compared with men.

At the top of the list is Boulder, Colorado, with the most women-owned small businesses per 100: 4.42. The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut metro area came in second, with the second-highest median annual income for women of 57,377 dollars.

The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado area came in third with a high number of women-owned businesses at 3.22 per 100 people, and high female earnings relative to male, at 87 per cent. NerdWallet's conclusion? “Go west, young woman!”.

Barbara Bierach