Women & Business

These are the 10 Best Cities for Female Entrepreneurs

This week Forbes looked at the best cities for female entrepreneurs. Though NerdWallet also put out a similar list this week, Forbes’s includes cities where budding female entrepreneurs are getting loans for their new businesses, like Houston Texas. Here are the best places to strike out on one’s own:

1. New York, NY
2. Houston, TX
3. Dallas, TX
4. Washington, DC
5. Atlanta, GA
6. San Francisco, CAL
7. Columbus, OH
8. Denver, CO
9. Philadelphia, PA
10. San Diego, CA

New York’s place at number one is not surprising. Rich Shapiro wrote in The Daily News in 2012, “New York is quickly establishing itself as the place to be for women seeking to launch tech startups.” And we have seen some amazing female-based startups emerge in The Big Apple in the last few years such as LearnVest, Rent the Runway and Birchbox to name just a few.

Heddi Cundle, Founder & CEO of myTab, wrote a post for Forbes on the subject when she came to New York City for some tech meetings last year:

“Not only are these gals kinder and less defensive than the past decades but they know their stuff in tech. I was interrogated about my startup and with good cause. The questions were well thought out, unique in strategy and challenging in a “C’mon Heddi, you’re onto something big with this company but it’s my job to bust your balls until you get too big” way. And the best part – the questions and meetings were aimed at the intention that these women had my back and were really rooting for me.

I’ve had many meetings with women in Silicon Valley and all are great but there’s an LA Fear element…But the East Coast? They’re knocking out the slam dunking image nonstop and they’re doing it with style, panache (yes, I do still say panache – you should also) and a flurry of intelligence that won’t be undermined by their male colleagues.”

Texas, as Forbes pointed out, is also becoming a hotbed for the entrepreneurial ladies. Houston has given more than $35 million in loans to women for building businesses each year. According to the State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, the Lone Star State has an estimated 666,600 women-owned firms that employ 603,100 workers and have roughly $105 million in revenue. Texas’ growth in women-owned firms from 1997 and 2012 was the fifth-best in the nation at 75%. The lower cost of living and lower cost associated with starting a business, in comparison with more expensive cities like New York, Boston or San Francisco, is a definite plus for Southern ladies.

TAGS: female entrepreneurs | New Yorkj | news | startups

• Top 10 Reasons Why Women Are Better
• 7 Things You Don't Need to Buy
• The Money Score Card: How Do You Rate?
• 7 Smart Shopping Tips for Big-Ticket Buys