Girl Power
New study names Texas one of the best states for women-led startups
Who runs the world? According to Merchant Maverick's inaugural Best States for "Women-Led Startups'' study, Texas is a great place for women to be in charge.
The Lone Star state cracked the top 10 on the list, earning the No. 6 spot, according to the small business reviews and financial services company, which based the study on eight key statistics about this growing segment of the economy.
Colorado (at No. 1), Washington, Virginia, Florida, and Montana were the only states to beat out Texas in the rankings — leading the Merchant Maverick team to conclude that "the part of the country that lies west of the Mississippi is great for startups led by women entrepreneurs."
Women-led startups in Texas received $365 billion in VC funding in the last five years, the report found. This is the seventh largest total among U.S. states. Additionally, about 20 percent of Texans are employed at woman-led firms, which is the fifth highest percentage among states. Roughly 35 percent of employers in Texas are led by women.
A few other key findings that work in female founders' favor: The startup survival rate in Texas is nearly 80 percent — and a lack of state income tax "doesn't hurt either," the report says.
Still, there are shortcomings. On a per capita basis, only 1.27 percent of Texas women run their own business. The average income for self-employed women is also relatively low ranking among states, coming in around $55,907 and landing at 31st place.
This is not the first time Texas has been lauded as a land of opportunity for women entrepreneurs. A 2019 study named it the best state for business opportunities for women. Houston, too, has proven to support success for the demographic. The Bayou City was named in separate studies a best city for female entrepreneurs to start a business and to see it grow.
Still, as many findings have concluded, the realities of the pandemic loom for all startups and small business owners. The Merchant Maverick study was careful to add, "The pandemic has changed the economic landscape over the past year, and often for the worse.
"This means that not every metric may be able to accurately gauge how a state might fare amidst the pandemic," the report continues. "To help factor in COVID's impact, we included some metrics that take 2020 into account, but it will be a while until we get a full picture of the pandemic's devastation."
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A version of this story originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.com.
