As India intensifies its focus on improving women’s workforce participation, the role of cities becomes central to this national ambition. Cities that invest in inclusive policies, safety, and opportunity not only support women’s participation but also strengthen their economic competitiveness.
Top Cities for Women in India is a unique, data-driven study that assesses urban inclusivity across two categories and multiple indicators. It surfaces strengths, identifies systemic gaps, and evaluates policy effectiveness, while reinforcing corporate accountability and positioning cities as destinations for talent and long-term investment.
Report
About the Report
The 2025 Top Cities for Women in India study assigns a City Inclusion Score (CIS) to a defined set of cities, selected for their significance in driving India’s economic growth. The CIS is built on two core pillars that together offer a comprehensive view of urban inclusion for women:
- Social Inclusion Score (SIS): The Social Inclusion Score aggregates performance across five key indicators—city livability, safety, women’s representation in employment, women’s empowerment.
- Industry Inclusion Score (IIS): The Industry Inclusion Score assesses the extent to which organizations across industries within a city enable and sustain women’s inclusion. This score is derived from three indicators: the prevalence of inclusive organizations, the inclusivity of industries, and the availability of career enablers.
Why Extend?(Ecosystem Impact & Supply Chain Inclusion)
Sustainable Business Ecosystem Strategies
Develop workplace frameworks that promote culture-first vendor and supplier engagement
Scaling MSMEs & Startups Through Workplace Innovation
Helping small businesses build thriving, inclusive workplaces that fuel long-term business growth
Policy Consulting & Industry Advocacy
Shaping workplace governance frameworks that support resilient, future-ready organizations
Strengthening Business Networks
Fostering supplier diversity, SME inclusion, and cross-industry collaboration to drive long-term workforce transformation
Key Findings
Key Findings
The study covered 125 cities in the country to gauge their inclusivity and conduciveness to working women.
In the 2024, 2023 and 2022 study, we covered120, 113 and 111 cities, respectively.
Unlike the previous editions, this year, we combined the list into a comprehensive one, including both big and small cities.
| Rank | City | State |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Bengaluru |
Karnataka |
|
2 |
Chennai |
Tamil Nadu |
|
3 |
Pune |
Maharashtra |
|
4 |
Hyderabad |
Telangana |
|
5 |
Mumbai |
Maharashtra |
|
6 |
Gurugram |
Haryana |
|
7 |
Kolkata |
West Bengal |
|
8 |
Ahmedabad |
Gujarat |
|
9 |
Thiruvananthapuram |
Kerala |
|
10 |
Coimbatore |
Tamil Nadu |
|
11 |
Delhi |
Delhi |
|
12 |
Kochi |
Kerala |
|
13 |
Tiruchirappalli |
Tamil Nadu |
|
14 |
Shimla |
Himachal Pradesh |
|
15 |
Madurai |
Tamil Nadu |
|
16 |
Jaipur |
Rajasthan |
|
17 |
Nagpur |
Maharashtra |
|
18 |
Salem |
Tamil Nadu |
|
19 |
Vellore |
Tamil Nadu |
|
20 |
Jodhpur |
Rajasthan |
|
21 |
Jammu |
Jammu & Kashmir |
|
22 |
Indore |
Madhya Pradesh |
|
23 |
Visakhapatnam |
Andhra Pradesh |
|
24 |
Kakinada |
Andhra Pradesh |
|
25 |
Erode |
Tamil Nadu |
Previous edition
Third Edition:
In the 2024 edition of Top Cities for Women in India, the indices were used to assess how effectively cities enable and advance women’s careers. The framework adopts a holistic approach, anchored in pillars that span safety, policy support for empowerment, and the presence of women-friendly organisations and industries, among other critical enablers. A total of 120 cities in India were analysed basis the study constructs and the ranking has emerged.
Second Edition:
In the second edition of the ‘Top Cities for Women in India’, we identified very critical indices to measure a city in terms of their ability to empower women’s careers. The framework is holistic and rests on pillars that cover safety, governmental policies for empowerment, density of women friendly organisations and industries to name a few. A total of 113 cities in India were analysed basis the study constructs and the ranking has emerged.
First Edition:
In the first edition of the ‘Top Cities for Women in India’, we identified very critical indices to measure a city in terms of their ability to empower women’s careers. The framework is holistic and rests on pillars that cover safety, governmental policies for empowerment, density of women friendly organisations and industries to name a few. A total of 111 cities in India were analysed basis the study constructs and the ranking has emerged.
