Female Entrepreneur Statistics: What the Numbers Reveal

Women have been starting businesses at record rates. In 2024 alone, women launched nearly half of all new businesses in the United States, and the total number of women-owned firms has climbed to 14.5 million. But the full picture is more complicated than those headline numbers suggest. Women still receive a fraction of venture capital funding, and women-owned businesses generate far less revenue on average than those owned by men.

In this article, we’ve gathered the latest data on women-led businesse. You’ll also find our original ranking of all 50 U.S. states plus D.C. based on the percentage of small businesses owned by women.

Key Female Entrepreneurship Statistics

• Women started 49% of new U.S. businesses in 2024, up from 29% in 2019
• There are 14.5 million women-owned businesses in the United States, making up 39.2% of all firms
• Women-owned businesses generate $3.3 trillion in revenue and employ nearly 13 million people
• The U.S. Census Bureau counts 14.2 million women-owned businesses with $2.8 trillion in receipts
• Female-only founding teams received just 2.3% of global venture capital in 2024
• A record 55 women serve as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, representing 11% of the list
• Globally, one in ten women started a new business in 2024, compared to one in eight men

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How Many Women-Owned Businesses Are in the U.S.?

The answer depends on which data source you’re looking at, because different organizations count businesses differently. Here’s what the most reliable sources report.

According to the Wells Fargo 2025 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses Report, there are 14.5 million women-owned businesses in the United States as of 2024. They make up 39.2% of all U.S. firms. These businesses generate $3.3 trillion in revenue and employ nearly 13 million people.

The U.S. Census Bureau, using its November 2025 release combining the Annual Business Survey and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, reports a similar total of 14.2 million women-owned businesses with $2.8 trillion in receipts. The Census data breaks that down further. Women own 1.4 million employer businesses (those with paid employees), which represents 22.9% of all employer firms. And women own 12.9 million nonemployer businesses (42.3% of all nonemployer firms), generating $423.1 billion in receipts.

That last point is worth paying attention to. The vast majority of women-owned businesses are one-person operations without employees. See our report on solopreneur statistics to learn more about these business owners.

(Sources: Wells Fargo, U.S. Census Bureau)

Growth of Women-Owned Businesses

The pace at which women are starting businesses has accelerated sharply since 2019. Much of that growth was kicked off during the pandemic, and it hasn’t slowed down.

Gusto’s 2025 New Business Formation Report, based on a survey of over 1,000 new business owners, found that women started 49% of new businesses in 2024. That’s up from just 29% in 2019, a 69% increase in five years. It’s the highest share Gusto has recorded since it started publishing this report.

The Wells Fargo report confirms the trend from a different angle. The number of women-owned firms grew 43.5% faster than men-owned firms between 2019 and 2024. Employment at women-owned businesses grew by 19.5% over the same period.

What’s driving it? According to the Gusto data, women entrepreneurs were 17% more likely than men to say they started a business because they wanted to be their own boss. They were also 30% more likely to say they wanted to work on their own schedule. Flexibility and autonomy are clearly strong motivators.

Solopreneurship is a big part of this story. Gusto’s separate report on solopreneurs found that over half of new solopreneurs in 2024 were women. And 54% of new solopreneurs said they started their business to “be my own boss.”

But growth hasn’t come without challenges. More than half (54%) of new women entrepreneurs reported difficulty finding or retaining employees, according to Gusto’s analysis. Women were also less likely than men to hire from personal networks like former colleagues or friends (31% compared to 43%), relying more on professional connections and converting contractors into full-time employees.

(Sources: Gusto report, Gusto article, Gusto on solopreneurship, Wells Fargo) 

Women-Owned Business Revenue

Women are starting businesses at impressive rates, but there’s a significant gap when it comes to revenue.

According to the Wells Fargo 2025 report, the average revenue across all women-owned businesses is $226,000. That’s well below the average for men-owned firms.

Wells Fargo estimated women-owned businesses could add an extra $10.2 trillion annually to the U.S. economy if their average revenue matched that of male-owned businesses. That staggering number reflects how much untapped economic potential exists.

Wells Fargo’s analysis also looked at racial disparities within women-owned businesses. Equalizing revenue between women of color-owned and white women-owned firms could add $832 billion to the economy.

On an encouraging note, the Capstone Partners 2025 Women Entrepreneurs Report, which surveyed more than 200 female business owners, found that 56% of women entrepreneurs saw more revenue growth in 2025 than in 2024. And two-thirds (66%) expected to see revenue growth in 2026.

(Sources: Wells Fargo, Capstone Partners)

Venture Capital and Funding

One of the most persistent challenges for women entrepreneurs is access to venture capital. The numbers here are blunt, and they haven’t changed much in recent years.

According to a Founders Forum Group analysis, of the $289 billion invested globally in venture capital during 2024, female-only founding teams received just 2.3% ($6.7 billion). All-male founding teams took 83.6% ($241.9 billion). Mixed-gender teams received the remaining 14.1%.

PitchBook’s 2024 Female Founders report provides a closer look at the U.S. market. Companies with at least one female founder raised $38.8 billion in VC funding in 2024, a 27% increase from the prior year. But when you look at all-female founding teams specifically, the picture is much bleaker. According to PitchBook data reported by Inc., companies founded entirely by women received just 1% of U.S. VC funding and 6% of all deals.

Early-stage funding is a particular issue. Only 20.5% of first financings in 2024 went to women-led startups, down from 26.5% in 2020. That decline means fewer new female-founded companies are getting their foot in the door.

There were some bright spots in 2024. PitchBook reported that 13 female-founded companies reached unicorn status (a $1 billion+ valuation) for the first time, and female-founded companies represented a record 24.3% of total U.S. VC exit count. So while the funding pipeline remains lopsided, the companies that do get funded are performing well.

(Sources: Founders Forum Group, PitchBook, Inc.,

Female Entrepreneurs Around the World

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2024/2025 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report surveyed more than 161,000 adults across 51 countries. It’s the most comprehensive source of data on global female entrepreneurship.

Globally, one in ten women started a new business in 2024, compared to one in eight men. Women’s startup activity lagged behind men’s in 47 of 51 countries surveyed. Among the four exceptions, women were at or near parity with men in terms of new business creation.

The gap varied by income level. Women in low-income countries reported the highest startup activity rates (15.5%), often because entrepreneurship was a necessity due to limited employment options. High-income countries actually had the lowest participation rates for women (9.2%), which also produced the largest gender gaps.

Some countries saw notable progress. Morocco had the biggest jump in women’s startup activity, rising from 4.5% in 2023 to 12.5% in 2024. Women’s startup rates were up in 19 of 47 countries that participated in both the 2023 and 2024 surveys.

One of the most striking findings from the GEM report is about business closures. Women were 47% more likely than men to close a business for family or personal reasons. Family and personal reasons ranked as the number two cause of business closure for women, while it was fourth for men.

The report also found that women were 2.5 times more likely to invest in other women than male investors were. But two-thirds of all informal investment still went to men.

On motivation, job scarcity was the strongest factor driving women toward entrepreneurship (71.1%). And nearly half of women founders (49.8%) said they were motivated to make a difference in the world, a rate equal to or higher than that of male founders in 34 of 51 countries.

When it comes to technology, the GEM report found that women were less than half as likely as men to work in the ICT sector and 11% less likely to see the benefits of AI for their business.

In terms of established businesses, one in 16 women around the world owns a business more than 42 months old, compared to one in ten men. South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, Puerto Rico, and Thailand have the highest rates of established businesses owned by women.

(Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor)

Women in Corporate Leadership

Looking beyond entrepreneurship, women have been gaining ground in corporate leadership, though the pace is slow.

The 2025 Fortune 500 list included a record 55 women CEOs, representing 11% of the list. That’s the first time the share has crossed the 10% mark in the Fortune 500’s 71-year history, up from 52 women CEOs in both 2023 and 2024. On the Global 500, 33 women lead the world’s largest companies, also a record, though that’s just 6.6%.

Looking at the broader workforce, Pew Research Center data shows that 46% of all U.S. managers were women in 2023, up from 29% in 1980. Women made up 58% of workers in professional and related occupations in 2023, up from 52% in 1980. Women now make up the majority of college-educated workers (53% in 2023), which is part of what’s driving these gains.

The McKinsey and LeanIn Women in the Workplace 2025 report offers a view into the corporate pipeline. Women represent 49% of entry-level employees but just 29% of C-suite roles, unchanged from 2024. A persistent problem is what McKinsey calls the “broken rung” at the first promotion to manager. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women receive that same promotion. For women of color, the number drops to 74.

(Sources: Fortune 500, Fortune Global 500, Pew Research Center, McKinsey)

Black Female Entrepreneurship Statistics

Black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States.

According to Wells Fargo and Essence, 2.1 million American businesses are owned by Black women, accounting for 15% of all women-owned businesses. These businesses generate $98.3 billion in annual revenue.

Gusto’s 2025 report adds recent context. In 2024, Black-owned businesses were more likely to be started by women than by men. Since 2019, the percentage of businesses started by Black entrepreneurs has increased by 67%, according to Gusto’s formation report.

Black entrepreneurs own 15% of microbusinesses in the U.S., and 68% of Black-owned microbusinesses are owned by Black women, according to GoDaddy.

(Sources: Essence, Gusto, Gusto 2025 Business Formation Report, GoDaddy)

The Best States for Female Entrepreneurs

We analyzed federal data from all 50 states plus Washington D.C. to find where women have the strongest presence in small business ownership.

Key Findings

• Southern states lead. Many of the top-ranking states are in the South, including Georgia (#2), Louisiana (#3), Mississippi (#4), and South Carolina (#8).
• The Northeast struggles. States like New Hampshire (#50), New Jersey (#49), and Pennsylvania (#48) rank at the bottom.
• Rural states are split. Some states with low population density, like New Mexico (#6), rank surprisingly high, while others with a stronger farming economy, such as North Dakota (#47) and South Dakota (#51), rank near the bottom.
• The range is significant. There’s a 10.2 percentage point difference between D.C. (48.9%) and South Dakota (38.7%).

All numbers come from the Small Business Administration’s 2025 State Profiles, which track businesses with fewer than 500 employees. The SBA uses U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

Full Rankings

1. District of Columbia
2. Georgia
3. Louisiana
4. Mississippi
5. Hawaii
6. New Mexico
7. Oregon
8. South Carolina
9. Maryland
10. Alabama
11. North Carolina
12. Florida
13. Nevada
14. Arizona
15. Washington
16. Virginia
17. Colorado
18. Tennessee
19. Texas
20. Arkansas
21. Michigan
22. Idaho
23. Oklahoma
24. Missouri
25. Alaska
26. Indiana
27. California
28. Montana
29. West Virginia
30. Illinois
31. Ohio
32. Wyoming
33. Kansas
34. Vermont
35. Delaware
36. Rhode Island
37. Connecticut
38. Kentucky
39. Utah
40. Iowa
41. Nebraska
42. Wisconsin
43. Maine
44. Massachusetts
45. Minnesota
46. New York
47. North Dakota
48. Pennsylvania
49. New Jersey
50. New Hampshire
51. South Dakota

Methodology

The SBA state profiles list a percentage of small businesses owned by women, but the SBA counts businesses that are equally owned by men and women the same as businesses that are 100% owned by women. We calculated the numbers on our own to better account for this difference.

We analyzed the SBA’s 2025 state profiles for each state and captured the total number of small businesses owned by women, the total number owned by men, and the total number equally owned by men and women. In our calculations, the businesses equally owned by men and women carry half the weight of the businesses fully owned by women.

(Sources: Small Business Administration, U.S. Census Bureau)

Final Thoughts

Women are starting businesses at rates we haven’t seen before. Nearly half of all new businesses in 2024 were started by women, and the total count of women-owned firms continues to climb. But the data also shows that significant gaps remain in revenue, funding, and access to capital. Closing those gaps isn’t just a fairness issue. The Wells Fargo report estimates the U.S. economy is leaving $10.2 trillion on the table every year.