Study Shows Phoenix is a Great Place for Women Business Owners

Heather Peterson
Research Associate, Economic & Business Research Center
Eller College of Management

Phoenix is a great place for women to own businesses, according to a study by the Center for Women’s Business Research (CWBR).  Using US Census Bureau data, Center researchers ranked 50 MSAs based on their estimates of the number of privately-held firms where women owned at least 50 percent of the firm, and also taking into account employment and the sales volume of these firms.  Phoenix-Mesa ranked 5th overall, with 54.7 percent (136,845) of all privately-owned firms (250,300) being at least 50 percent or more owned by women.  These women-owned firms can boast a sales volume of over $41 billion and account for 21.2 percent (304,408) of all private sector jobs.  When the cities were ranked only by the share of firms women owned, Phoenix-Mesa’s 54.7 percent moved the city into 3rd place, behind Portland-Vancouver with 57.7 percent and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett with 56.8 percent.  Las-Vegas came in 4th with 53.7 percent of privately held firms owned at least 50 percent by women.

Center researchers estimated that between 1997 and 2004 the number of these women-owned firms in the Phoenix-Mesa MSA grew 30.6 percent, the number of employer firms grew by 43.8 percent and employment in these firms grew by  49.1 percent, while sales increased by a whopping 79.3 percent.  These growth numbers combined to place Phoenix-Mesa 2nd for overall growth, following Salt Lake City-Ogden in first place, and with Las Vegas coming in 3rd.

In Arizona, placing 14th in the state ranking, 56.6 percent of privately held firms are at least 50 percent owned by women with these firms accounting for 24.5 percent of private sector jobs and generating over $60 billion in sales. However, researchers estimated the number of women-owned firms increased by 30.5 percent, employment grew by 48.7 percent, and sales shot up by 78.9 percent. These statistics moved Arizona into second place behind Utah for strong growth in the number of, employment in, and sales volume of women-owned businesses. Other western states in the top 10 for growth were Nevada, 3rd, Idaho 4th and Oregon, 10th.

Number of Firms, Sales Volume and Employment in Arizona and Phoenix-Mesa MSA where Women Own 50 percent or more of the Firm 2004

Nineteen western MSAs made it into the top 50 with Los Angeles-Long Beach heading the list, and Houston, Phoenix, Dallas and Seattle making the top 10.  In total, these nineteen MSAs accounted for 38.8 percent of the 50 percent or more women owned firms in the top 50 MSAs, 43.9 percent of the employment, and 45.6 percent of the sales volume.  The eleven western states* account for 32.1 percent of firms, 36.3 percent of employment and 37.9 percent of sales volume in the United States.

Western MSAs Ranked By Percent of Total Number of Privately Held Firms Owned 50 percent or More By Women 2004

Western States Ranked By Percent of Total Number of Privately Held Firms Owned 50 percent or More By Women 2004

Number of Privately-Held, 50 percent or More Women-Owned Firms
Employment, and Sales by State, 2004

To read this study or for more general information, visit the Center for Women's Business Research Web site at http://www.womensbusinessresearch.org/index.asp.  

*Western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,
New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington Wyoming

For more information, please contact us.