Midwest cities among the best for women entrepreneurs

As the Midwest steadily rises in startup and business opportunities in general, female entrepreneurs are reaping a good portion of the benefits. A new report from Business.org shows that several Midwest cities stand out as especially viable for women business owners. The study, titled “The Best Cities for Women to Start a Business in 2018,” ranked three cities from the region among its top 10. Minnesota’s Twin City region of Minneapolis – St. Paul ranked highest among the Midwest at sixth place, specifically standing out for its overall startup culture and low female unemployment rate. Pittsburgh came in at eighth on the list and St. Louis was right behind it at ninth. The smallest difference in pay gap was also measured in the Midwest. In the Youngstown region of Ohio, women earn on average 94 cents to the man’s dollar, whereas the national average is usually cited as a lowly 76 cents. In Midwestern hubs of Madison, Wisconsin and the Twin Cities, women enjoy some of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, according to Business.org’s numbers. In being formulated, the study went through five key factors to decide the rankings. The overall percentage of women-owned businesses, the amount of new businesses, the pay difference between women to men, the female unemployment rate, and the prevalence of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) chapters were the key factors measured in each region. More than 100 cities and metro areas were used in the study, where researchers found that the average rate of female-owned businesses in a city was just 35 percent of that city’s companies. Another Midwest city that stands out is Detroit, which boasts a 40-percent rate female-owned businesses. The highest number of women-owned businesses reside in Memphis with 45 percent.