Once best-known as a sleepy surfer town, in the last couple of decades, San Diego has become an exciting hub for millennial tech talent and innovative female entrepreneurs.

There are so many reasons why San Diego is the awesome city that it is — gender equality, innovation, and forward-thinking planning all contribute to both high happiness levels and an incredible startup scene in the city.

For the female entrepreneur, San Diego has it all: sun, sand, startups, and STEM. Read on to find out more about why being a woman in this city rocks.

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Women are changing the startup landscape in San Diego

San Diego is already home to some incredible female founders, so you’re in good company. It’s not surprising, considering that 1 in 3 women graduate from San Diego UC with a STEM major — the highest percentage in the country.

San Diego has become a hub for driven, clever women hoping to shake things up with their innovative ideas. Check out this awesome list to meet the top women behind some of San Diego’s fastest growing companies.

Great female-led communities

If you’re thinking of moving here to be surrounded by strong women and inspired by a supportive community, then you’re on the right track.

Women in San Diego know that female entrepreneurship is hard. Although it’s getting better, entrepreneurship in certain circles is still very much a male-dominated profession, so empowering and supporting each other as women counts for a lot.

Luckily, there are dozens of women’s groups in San Diego where you can share resources and knowledge, network, seek advice, and promote your business. Communities like eWomenNetwork help female business owners to build relationships, showcase their work, and achieve their goals.

Here’s a comprehensive list of women’s groups in San Diego to see which would best suit you.

Millennial Magazine- San Diego

Photo by Sanguin2

Inspirational events & conferences

One thing I love about being an entrepreneur is going to conferences and events when I can meet inspiring people and learn interesting new things!

Conferences give you the opportunity to be inspired by others, and to grow and learn through shared experiences.

The entrepreneurial events and conferences scene in San Diego is awesome. It’s a hive of activity, and you can learn so much from some of the biggest names in your field.

Female-specific events like the San Diego Women’s Week are also held in the city — it’s a week’s worth of inspiring speakers, panel discussions, breakout sessions, and exhibitions. SDWW is all about connecting women in the area and addressing topics that affect them.

Check out Eventbrite to see what’s happening on the event scene for women in San Diego:

Millennial Magazine- female entrepreneurs

Photo by EventBrite

An exciting tech and STEM scene

San Diego has a huge variety of female-led companies across different industries and niches — making San Diego the perfect place for digital-savvy entrepreneurs, female coders, and tech pros. Ecommerce is also booming in the city, as evidenced by these city business listings.

If you’re a female entrepreneur in the startup tech industry, then San Diego needs a special shout-out. It’s one of the best US cities to live in, with an awesome up-and-coming tech scene — perfect for allowing your tech startup to flourish.

Although there are some influential big names mixed in, their voices aren’t drowning out the newbies, and the entrepreneurial scene is a great mix of competitiveness and collaboration.

This allows technology-based startups the push they need to get off the ground, and their success is helping to attract more techies to San Diego and diversify the community even more.

Cheaper than San Fran

There’s an age-old rivalry between San Diego and San Fran, and there are plenty of comparison tables aimed at people thinking about moving to this part of the world (but let’s not get into that).

Frankly, San Francisco is super expensive, and that’s not a secret.

The average rent on a two bedroom apartment in San Francisco is currently around a whopping $4,380. And it’s not just rent that’s skyhigh: the total cost of living in San Francisco is 62.6% higher than the US average.

Whereas if you’re moving to San Diego, you would need just half that amount for rent: the average two bed apartment costs $2,250.

As you can see with NerdWallet’s comparison, there’s nearly a 20% difference in cost of living between the two cities:

Millennial Magazine- female entrepreneur

Photo by Nerd Wallet

Heading to San Diego is a no-brainer, particularly if you’re a budding business owner or a freelancer trying to stick to a budget. And if you’re a more established entrepreneur, you still have to be able to pay the salaries of your employees — no one wants to be in a position where they’re asking staff to take a cut.

Being a woman in San Diego rocks — especially if you’re a female entrepreneur looking for an exciting, innovative space to grow your business.

San Diego is such a great city with so many positives for entrepreneurs. It’s a thriving metropolitan hub where tech and innovation meet sunshine and tacos. What’s not to love?