Women-owned firms continued growing in number at nearly twice the rate of all firms, 42% compared to 23% for all firms.

Majority women-owned firms are growing at a rate nearly twice the U.S. average according to a report issued by the Center for Women’s Business Research.

Drawing on the most recently available U.S. Census data, research research shows there are 7.7 million majority women-owned firms (firms at least 51% owned by a woman or women). The data released by the Center looks at the impact of these firms in individual states, regions and metropolitan areas.

“Between 1997 and 2006, the performance of majority women-owned firms outpaced the economy as a whole,” said Marjorie Alfus, chair, Center for Women’s Business Research. “Their growth in sales and employees was modest, 4.4% and 0.4% respectively, but surpassed that of all privately-held firms, which had negative growth (declines of 1% in sales and 1.2% in employees.) Women-owned firms continued growing in number at nearly twice the rate of all firms, 42% compared to 23% for all firms.”

The report reveals impressive growth and the substantial economic contributions women entrepreneurs are making across the country. Five of the fastest growing metro areas for majority women-owned firms are in Florida: Fort Lauderdale; West Palm Beach-Boca Raton; Tampa-St. Petersburg; Orlando; and Miami. The other half are geographically diverse: Phoenix; New York; Suffolk-Nassau counties, NY; Atlanta; and Virginia Beach, VA.

The top ten states for majority women-owned firms are, in rank order: California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Michigan, and Georgia. The rank is based on a combination of the number of firms, sales and employees.

The top ten states with the fastest growth rates for majority women-owned firms are: Florida; Arizona; Hawaii; Georgia; New York; Virginia; New Hampshire/New Jersey (tied at 7th); Rhode Island; and Nevada.

Between 1997 and 2006, the top ten metro areas based on number of firms, sales and employees for majority women-owned firms are: Los Angeles; New York; Chicago; Washington, DC; Atlanta; Boston; Houston; Philadelphia; Santa Ana-Anaheim; Dallas; and Detroit.

For the first time, the Center for Women’s Business Research is also releasing data on women-owned businesses by region, which are based primarily on Census Bureau –defined regions. The South Atlantic Region (FL, GA, NC, SC, VA, and WV) showed across the board growth for majority women-owned firms. Between 1997 and 2006, the 1.3 million firms increased 72% in number, 15% in sales, 15% in employees and firms with employees increased 24%.