SIOUX FALLS, SD, (KELO.com) — A recent report done by Self Financial shows that South Dakota has the fourth-lowest percentage of female-owned businesses in the United States.
Data gathered from all 5o states shows that women own just 34.3 percent of all South Dakota businesses. That is only 19,621 female business owners in the state.
North Dakota has the second-lowest percentage of female business owners at 32.6 percent.
In the United States, about 39 percent of all businesses are owned by women.
Self Financial analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found that women create their own business for the same purpose as men: to be their own boss. However, Self Financial says that female business owners’ percentages are low in the U.S. because women face multiple challenges.
“Female workers face several challenges, including inequities in pay and underrepresentation in certain industries and occupations,” they said.
Female owners are also less likely than male owners to incorporate their businesses because female-owned businesses have a more difficult time receiving tax benefits, asset protection, and easy access to capital.
Male workers in the U.S. earn an average of 25 percent more than female workers, and self-employed women still earn less than those in an incorporated business.
Geographically, female business ownership is far less common in the Midwest and prevalent on the West Coast.
Hawaii has the highest percentage of women-owned businesses at 46 percent, while Oregon has 44.6 percent of their businesses owned by women.
Between 2010 and 2019, female business ownership in the U.S. grew from over 35 percent to about 39 percent in almost nine years.
Female business ownership is becoming more common, but it is still difficult for a woman to become her own boss and start a business because of many barriers still in place in the U.S.
