Female entrepreneurs thinking about starting a business in Raleigh – either those who live here or are thinking about relocating to a friendly environment – might want to check out a new list of “best cities.”

Raleigh – and often the Triangle – rank high on a lot of lists for businesses, from quality of life to regulatory environment to cost of living to high-tech, and more.

Now, NerdWallet, a personal financial website, ranks Raleigh eighth on its list of top 10 cities for female entrepreneurs, citing the city’s growing number of businesses, the percentage of female business owners, and other factors.

“Raleigh’s low unemployment rate and high number of businesses per person make it a great city for female entrepreneurs,” the website says. “Entrepreneurs can check out organizations like Raleigh Business and Professional Women for resources. In addition, the City of Raleigh has adopted a Small Disadvantaged Minority and Women Owned Business Program, promising to award 15% of the city’s contracts to minority-owned and women-owned businesses.”

The survey cites several criteria for its rankings:

  • Number of businesses per 100 residents from the U.S. Census
  • Percent of businesses that are women-owned from the U.S. Census
  • Per capita median income from the U.S. Census (half-weighted)
  • Unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (half-weighted)
  • Percent of residents 25+ who have a Bachelor’s degree

Some 50 large metros were surveyed.

Raleigh ranked ninth for percentage of female-owned businesses at 28.4 percent.

Boosting the City of Oaks was a No. 4 standing in bachelor’s degrees as a percentage of population at 47.3 percent – good for fourth best.

NerdCity said its survey focused on several key questions:

  • “Is the city an entrepreneurial one? We assessed the cities’ entrepreneurial climates by the number of businesses in the city per 100 residents.
  • “Are there female entrepreneurs (for networking or mentorship)? We analyzed the percentage of businesses in the city that are women-owned to gauge the level of support women would be able to find as well as how friendly the city is to entrepreneurial women.
  • “Does the city have a thriving economy? We examined the median income and unemployment rate to determine which cities have an economy that is conducive to new businesses and which have strong economic fundamentals. Cities that ranked higher have a high median income and low unemployment rate.
  • “Is it a highly educated city? Education levels correlate with entrepreneurship, and a study found that 92% of tech founders hold a Bachelor’s degree. We assessed the presence of educated workers in the city by the percentage of residents over 25 years old with a Bachelor’s degree.”

The No. 1 spot went to San Francisco followed by Seattle, Washington D.C., Minneapolis, Portland Ore., Atlanta, and Austin Tex. Denver came in ninth, San Diego 10th.