Seattle is Second Best City for Women Entrepreneurs

Seattle ranks second after San Francisco based on the number of women-owned businesses on a per capital basis.

Nerd Wallet, a personal finance site, examined which cities are the best for women entrepreneurs based on the following questions:

  1. Is the city an entrepreneurial one? We assessed the cities’ entrepreneurial climates by the number of businesses in the city per 100 residents.
  2. Are there female entrepreneurs (for networking or mentorship)? We analyzed the percentage of businesses in the city that are women-owned to gauge the level of support women would be able to find as well as how friendly the city is to entrepreneurial women.
  3. Does the city have a thriving economy? We examined the median income and unemployment rate to determine which cities have an economy that is conducive to new businesses and which have strong economic fundamentals. Cities that ranked higher have a high median income and low unemployment rate.
  4. Is it a highly educated city? Education levels correlate with entrepreneurship, and a study found that 92% of tech founders hold a Bachelor’s degree. We assessed the presence of educated workers in the city by the percentage of residents over 25 years old with a Bachelor’s degree.

The full study is here. Here are the results:

1. San Francisco, CA

San Francisco is well-known for its entrepreneurial climate, particularly in the technology industry. With nearby Silicon Valley and a whopping 13.7 businesses per 100 residents, the city has plenty of fellow entrepreneurs for networking and collaboration opportunities. The Bay Area is also home to three of the nation’s most famous businesswomen, Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook), Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo) and Meg Whitman (CEO of Hewlett-Packard).

2. Seattle, WA



3. Washington, DC

Over one-third of businesses in DC are owned by women, meaning that women in this city can find plenty of female coworkers and mentors. The city provides plenty of resources to women as well, such as the Washington, DC Women’s Business Center. The organization, partially funded by the SBA, offers trainings, classes

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