Michigan Ranks as the 13th Best State, with 346,916 Female-Owned Businesses. This Represents 38.5% of all Firms in the State.

Photo by RDNE Stock project

Article courtesy of  Algo

International Women’s Day: Michigan among best states for female-owned businesses!

• Michigan ranks 13th in the new study, with 38.5% of businesses owned by women.

• The research examined the number of employer and non-employer female-owned businesses as reported by the U.S. Small Business Administration. 

• Georgia ranks first nationwide, with 42.2% of businesses owned by women, according to the new study. 

A new study reveals the leading states for female-owned businesses.

The research, conducted by demand planning software Algo, analyzed the latest U.S. Small Business Administration data to determine which states have the highest percentage of women-led firms across both employer and non-employer categories.

Michigan

Michigan ranks as the 13th best state, with 346,916 female-owned businesses. This represents 38.5% of all firms in the state.

Georgia stands at the top of the rankings for female-owned businesses, with 512,667 female-owned establishments out of a total of 1,215,635. This equates to 42.2% of all firms. Women own 45.7% of non-employer businesses in the state, while maintaining a 22.1% ownership rate in employer businesses.

Hawaii secures the second position, with 40.6% of businesses owned by women. The data shows that out of 133,811 total businesses in the state, 54,353 are female-owned. The state displays a higher percentage of women-owned non-employer businesses, at 44.5%, compared to employer businesses, at 22.5%.

Oregon is the third-best state for women in business, with women owning 40% of all businesses. The Pacific Northwest state has 157,382 female-owned businesses out of a total of 393,942. The data shows women own 45.2% of non-employer businesses and 22.4% of employer businesses in the state.

In joint fourth place, with a 39.9% total female ownership rate, are South Carolina, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Despite the matching totals, 43.8% of businesses are female-owned non-employer firms in South Carolina, compared to 44.0% in Louisiana and 44.8% in New Mexico.

Maryland has 253,343 female-owned businesses out of 636,055 total businesses. Out of these, women own 43.2% of non-employer businesses and 22.4% of employer businesses. With women owning 39.8% of all businesses, Maryland ranks fifth.

Table 1: The top 10 best states for female-owned businesses

Sanjeev Balasubramanian, SVP of Solution Architecture at Algo, commented on the findings,

“These numbers paint a clear picture of female entrepreneurship across America, with strong regional patterns emerging. The data shows women have made remarkable progress in business ownership, particularly in states like Georgia and Hawaii where cultural and economic factors may be more supportive.

“What stands out most is the significant gap between non-employer and employer firm ownership. This suggests that while initial barriers to business ownership are being overcome, women entrepreneurs still face challenges in scaling their businesses to the point of hiring employees. State policies that specifically address growth-stage support could help close this gap.”

Methodology

This study determines which states have the highest average number of female-owned employer firms in America, according to the latest U.S. Small Business Administration data. States are ranked based on the average percentage of employer and non-employer female-owned businesses. For this analysis, majority-female-owned businesses are defined as those where women own more than 50% of the business. Note: Minnesota has been removed from the study due to inconclusive data.

Source

• U.S. Small Business Administration

Table 3: Full ranking for the top 10 best states for female-owned businesses