Move over Marissa Mayer, Washington, D.C., ranks No. 1 in the country, tied with Nevada and Wyoming, for women-owned businesses in terms of growth and economic clout, according to a report commissioned by American Express OPEN. Virginia ranked sixth.

Titled The State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, the second annual study indicates that the growth of businesses led by female entrepreneurs surpasses that of “all but the largest, publicly-traded firms” over the last 15 years.

The nation’s capital ranked first in employment growth, second in revenue growth and 14th in growth of firms.

The following stats show how Washington, D.C., fared against other states for women owned firms between 1997 and 2002 for growth and economic clout.

Growth in # of Firms	Rank	Growth in Firm Revenues	Rank	Growth in Employment	Rank	Combined Economic Clout
60.2%	14	174.7%	2	79.6%	1	1

The following stats show how Virginia fared against other states for women owned firms between 1997 and 2002 for growth and economic clout.

 

Growth in # of Firms	Rank	Growth in Firm Revenues	Rank	Growth in Employment	Rank	Combined Economic Clout
65.2%	11	105.3%	9	22.6%	12	6

The region of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia emerged as the top metropolitan area in the country, witnessing the greatest growth between 2002 and 2012 for female entrepreneurs. Specifically:

 

Growth in # of Firms	Rank	Growth in Firm Revenues	Rank	Growth in Employment	Rank	Combined Economic Clout
46.0%	4	68.0%	3	30.2%	4	1

Nationally, there are more than 8.3 million women-owned businesses that produce almost $1.3 trillion in revenues and employ 7.7 million people.

Following are a few bullet points excerpted from the report.

On National Trends

- “Between 1997 and 2012, when the number of businesses in the United States increased by 37%,
the number of women-owned firms increased by 54%, a rate 1.5 times the national average.  The
number of women-owned companies has risen by 200,000 within the past year, equivalent to just
under 550 new women-owned firms per day”

- “While it’s true that women-owned firms continue to grow in number and economic stature, OPEN president Susan Sobbott notes, ‘Even as women-owned firms continue to grow in number at rates exceeding the national average, enterprises at the $250,000 to $499,999 revenue mark are at a turning point in their development. In order to further advance and grow these businesses, new management tools must be implemented.’”

On Industry Trends

- “Women-owned firms continue to diversify into all industries. The industries with the highest
concentration of women-owned firms are: health care and social assistance (53% of firms in this sector are women-owned, compared to a 29% share overall), educational services (45%), other services (40%), and administrative and waste services (37%). The industries with the lowest concentration of women-owned firms (in industries contributing 2% or more of the business population) are construction (where just 8% of firms are women owned) and finance and insurance (20%). All other industries are close to the 29% share in all industries—again illustrating that women owned firms are staking a claim in all sectors of the U.S. economy.”

The report used data from the Census Bureau to compile its rankings.

Here is a link to the full report.