The Best and Worst Cities for Women in Business

While it is probably no surprise, a recent study by Bizjournals shows that some cities fare better for women in business. If you are a woman hoping to open a new business, pack up your bags and head to San Francisco, which ranked as the best market in which to live as a woman entrepreneur. In this city, women tend to have a lot of support in business as well as a high education level. I was surprised to find this city at the top of the list, though; with its unbelievably high cost of living, it would seem to me that San Francisco would be a tough area in which to throw caution to the wind and follow the dream of business ownership unless you had a lot of cash in the bank in case the business went belly up.

Washington landed in the second place position, where nearly 44 percent of women hold bachelor's degrees and 19 percent hold advanced degrees. These statistics actually lead the nation as far as educated women are concerned.

New York and Los Angeles ranked third and fourth as great markets in which to own a business. I can tell you that LA is a wonderful place to start a company. The support here is high for women in business, the climate is perfect and networking opportunities abound. Again, though, the cost of living is high, so that's one thing to take into consideration.

So what three qualities do these areas share? Education, higher salaries, and entrepreneurship. Seems that in areas where women succeed the most in business, females tend to be more educated, make higher salaries, and have more opportunities for owning a company.

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