We're No. 1

Texas takes top spot in new study of best states for female entrepreneurs

Texas jumped from No. 8 to No. 1 in this nationwide study.

Photo courtesy of Pexels

Texas is known for being a land of opportunity, and a recent study evaluated how those business opportunities translate to benefitting female entrepreneurs. Turns out, starting a business as a woman in the Lone Star State is a pretty good idea.

Fit Small Business ranked all 50 states based on the business opportunities for women. In the January 8 report, Texas came in No. 1 — up from the No. 8 spot last year. Ohio, Minnesota, Washington, and Alabama rounded out the top five, respectively.

Each state was evaluated by four equally weighted factors: general business climate and opportunity, the number of female-owned businesses, economic and financial health, and safety and well-being for women.

Texas ranked strongest in economic and financial health, for which it ranked No. 3 overall, followed by the number of female-owned businesses, for which it ranked No. 5. Texas' general business climate was ranked No. 8 in the study. Where the state stands to improve is in its safety and well-being for women. Texas ranked No. 41 in this category, which factored in cost of living, social support for women, and whether or not the state had a positive environment for women.

"Texas is hands-down one of the nation's top states due to its business-friendly legal and economic climate," the report says. "Put aside having no corporate or income taxes and a high rate of startup growth; startups are flocking to [the state's] high startup success rate."

American Express' 2018 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report found that women-owned businesses are growing at an impressive rate. The study found that over the past 11 years, the amount of women-owned businesses grew 58 percent — compared to the 12 percent that all businesses reportedly increased.

In this study, Texas tied with Utah for second place among the states "where women-owned businesses most increased their economic clout between 2007 and 2018." When the data was broken down into metropolitan areas, Texas had three cities in the top 10: San Antonio at No. 2, Austin at No. 3, and Dallas No. 9.

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.com.

bests reports texas

college ranking news

SMU declared No. 1 university in Dallas-Fort Worth in new 2027 ranking

SMU/Facebook

Go Mustangs!

Education ranking and review website Niche has released its 2027 rankings of the best colleges in the U.S., and Southern Methodist University leads as the No. 1 best university in Dallas-Fort Worth and the sixth best in Texas.

Niche's annual rankings compared over 4,000 colleges and universities based on their academics, value, student life, career preparation, and more. Schools receive letter grades across 14 metrics, which were expanded this year to include Student Wellness and Future Readiness.

Also new to this year's rankings, Niche implemented an "Institutional Success Score" that "places every college into one of 10 mission-based categories" and compared each school against "outcomes aligned with that mission," which included research institutions, social mobility-focused colleges, and religious institutions, among others.

Among the Best Christian Colleges, SMU ranks 5th in the U.S., and it is the 67th best private university in America.

SMU rival Texas Christian University in Fort Worth ranks three spots behind SMU as the eighth best Christian college and slightly lower on the national list of private universities, at No. 81.

In the overall ranking of the Best Colleges in America for 2027, SMU ranks 118th and TCU comes in at No. 142.

SMU also received the following top-100 rankings:

No. 58 – Best Greek Life Colleges
No. 62 – Best College Locations
No. 68 – Best College Campuses
No. 71 – Top Party Schools
No. 72 – Colleges With the Best Student Life
No. 80 – Colleges With the Best Professors
No. 99 – Best Colleges for Student Athletes

Also on the local front, University of Texas at Dallas ranked a respectable No. 13 in the Texas-wide list, and it ranked as the 219th best university in the U.S. It fared better in the nationwide list of the Best Big Colleges, appearing at No. 74.

Top education institutions across Texas
Four other Texas universities outside Dallas-Fort Worth excelled on Niche's list of the 100 Best Colleges in America.

Rice University in Houston topped the statewide list, ranked as the 10th best university in America, and is the 10th best private university in the U.S. for 2027.

The University of Texas at Austin ranked second statewide and 30th nationwide, and topped the list of Colleges With the Best Student Life. UT Austin also racked up top-10 acclaim in the separate lists of the Best College Locations (No. 4), Top Public Universities (No. 5), Best Big Colleges (No. 6), Best College Campuses (No. 10), and Best Colleges For Student Athletes (No. 10).

Texas A&M University in College Station and Trinity University in San Antonio round out the remaining Texas institutions that ranked among the top 100 overall. The Aggies ranked 52nd nationwide, and the Trinity Tigers ranked 65th overall.

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