Study: Women-owned business statistics, the best states in 2026

In 1988, women in the U.S. gained the right to secure business loans and open a business without a male co-signer when the Women’s Business Ownership Act was signed into law. In the nearly 40 years since then, women all across the country have brought their dreams to life and grown their businesses. 

At Nav, we work with entrepreneurs every day, helping them to better strengthen their business’s credit and cash flow to help give lenders confidence to support their growth. With that in mind, we set out to learn more about the state of female-owned businesses in America. 

To do this, we analyzed four factors using the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics for business in each state. First, we calculated the share of businesses by state that are women-owned. Then, we analyzed the two-year growth in women-owned businesses in recent years and the average revenue per women-owned business with employees. Finally, we collected the share of women-owned businesses with employees. 

Using these four factors, we calculated a business index on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most thriving businesses. We then used this score to rank each state to learn which parts of the country have seen the most success for women-owned businesses. Here are our findings. 

Where women-owned businesses are thriving

Women-owned businesses are thriving across the country. When analyzing the four metrics, we found that every region landed a state in our top five, from the second-largest state in the nation to the smallest one.

Leading the way is Texas with a business index of 98.28 out of 100, as women own 41% of businesses in the state, and that number grew 9% in two years. Additionally, the average women-owned business with employees brings in more than $2.3 million a year, the third-highest figure in the nation.

Mississippi follows with a score of 96.72 out of 100 as women own 43% of businesses in the state. Mississippi also posted the sixth-fastest growth in the country at 10% from 2021 to 2023. Illinois takes third with a business index of 95.52, carried by revenue. The average woman-owned business with employees in Illinois earns more than $2.5 million a year, the highest in the country. 

New Mexico (93.62) and Rhode Island (93.10) round out the top five, with New Mexico ranking fifth in the country for the share of businesses women own and Rhode Island posting the fastest growth of any state.

Nationally, women own 39% of American businesses, and in 15 states they own at least 40%. The South leads every region on that measure, where women own 41% of businesses on average.

Hiring tells a different story. About one in 10 women-owned businesses across the country have a paid employee, and the states where women own the most businesses aren't necessarily the states where those businesses have hired staff. Georgia leads the nation with women owning 45% of its businesses and ranks 43rd for the share of those businesses with employees. Mississippi shows the widest split of any state, ranking second for ownership and 47th for employees.

Out West, the pattern flips. Alaska, Wyoming, and Montana lead the country in the share of women-owned businesses with employees, with roughly one in seven having made a hire, even though fewer women own businesses there compared to other parts of the country. 

The states where women-owned businesses earn the most

After finding where women-owned businesses are successful overall, we wanted a closer look at what they're bringing in. Revenue can indicate staying power, so we looked at the average annual revenue of women-owned businesses with at least one employee in every state.

Illinois leads the country as the average women-owned business with employees earns more than $2.5 million a year ($2,554,521). Ohio is second at $2,362,058 and Texas third at $2,321,355. Arkansas ($2,169,273) and Louisiana ($2,132,053) round out the top five, and six states in total average more than $2 million a year, with Alabama businesses earning an average of $2,056,139 annually. 

The range across the country is wide. The average women-owned business with employees earns roughly $2.55 million a year in Illinois compared with about $1 million a year in Idaho, or roughly two and a half times as much. Those state figures add up to real weight nationally. Counting both employer and solo businesses, the U.S. Census Bureau reported in November 2025 that women owned 14.2 million American businesses, generating $2.8 trillion in total sales in 2023.

It's worth noting that these figures cover businesses with employees, which are roughly one in 10 of all women-owned businesses in the country. The others are one-person operations, a group the Census Bureau counts as any sole proprietorship bringing in at least $1,000 a year, which includes part-time and side businesses alongside full-time ones. The average solo business brings in about $31,000 a year, ranging from roughly $25,000 in Mississippi to $41,000 in Hawaii.

Where businesses have seen the most growth

For the final portion of our study, we wanted to see where women-owned businesses are growing fastest. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. grew 7%, outpacing the growth of the business population as a whole.

Rhode Island leads the country, where the number of women-owned businesses grew 14% in two years, nearly double the state's 7% growth across all businesses. New Jersey (12%) and Connecticut (12%) follow, with Connecticut's women-owned businesses growing at more than twice the rate of businesses overall. Florida also grew 12%, keeping pace with one of the fastest-expanding business populations in the country, and New York rounds out the top five at 11%.

That edge held nearly everywhere. In 41 of the 48 states we analyzed, women-owned businesses grew faster than the state's overall business population. Mississippi shows one of the widest advantages in the country, where women-owned businesses grew 10% while businesses overall grew 5%. Louisiana is close behind, with 4% growth in women-owned businesses in a state where the overall business count was essentially flat.

Regionally, the Northeast grew fastest, averaging 9% over two years, while the Midwest averaged 5%. Women-owned businesses grew faster than the overall business population in every region of the country.

The clearest measure of that momentum is national. Over those two years, women-owned businesses accounted for nearly half of all net new businesses in the U.S., even though women owned 39% of businesses when the period began.

The right funding can help your business reach new heights

The dreams that gathered momentum in 1988 are still gaining ground, in every state in the country. Growth usually costs money, whether it's a first hire, a bigger space, or the inventory to take on more work. That makes funding an essential part of the path for most businesses at some point.

Credit and cash flow can be either the pillars of that growth or barriers to the funding you need. They help determine which financing options are within reach and which aren't yet. Understanding what lenders see, where you qualify, and what you can improve puts you in a much stronger position when it's time to fund your next step. Nav is not a lender or a credit bureau. Credit information is provided by third-party sources.

Methodology

In this study, we analyzed four factors from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics for businesses in each state: the share of businesses that are women-owned, two-year growth in women-owned businesses (2021 to 2023), average revenue per women-owned employer business, and the share of women-owned businesses with employees. 

To turn these four factors into a single ranking, we first placed every state on a level playing field for each factor, scoring them based on where they fell between the lowest and highest state on that measure. This step lets us compare factors that use very different units, like a percentage of businesses against an average revenue in the millions, on the same scale.

We then combined each state's four scores into one overall figure, weighting all four factors equally so that no single measure could dominate the ranking. The result is a composite score that reflects how well each state performs across all four measures of where women-owned businesses are thriving. We then adjusted the scores on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the best state for women-owned businesses. Due to a lack of available data, Kentucky and Maine were excluded from this study.