Women Entrepreneurs

Women own 10.6 million businesses in the United States.
They employ 19.1 million workers--that's one in every seven employees.
Their businesses account for $2.5 trillion in sales.

Business Products and Services Expenditures:
Information Technology .............................................................................................$38 billion
Telecommunications..................................................................................................$25 billion
Human Resource Services ......................................................................................$23 billion
Shipping/Mailing..........................................................................................................$17 billion

Salaries and Benefits Expenditures:
Salaries ........................................................................................................................$492 billion
Health Insurance.........................................................................................................$38 billion
Retirement/Savings Plans ........................................................................................$14 billion
Life Insurance ..............................................................................................................$1 billion
Disability Insurance ....................................................................................................$1 billion
Total ...............................................................................................................................$546 billion

The 10 largest metropolitan areas for women-owned firms based on an average number of firms, employment and sales for 2004 are:

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
2. Chicago, IL
3. New York, NY
4. Houston, TX
5. Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
6. Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV
7. Dallas, TX
8. Detroit, MI
9. Philadelphia, PA-NJ
10. Atlanta, GA, and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA (tied)

19% of all women-owned businesses used $10,000 or more to start their businesses.
8% of women-owned businesses used $50,000 or more to start their businesses.

65% of women entrepreneurs reinvest business earnings to foster future business growth.