RALEIGH – Airbnb is providing more than equal opportunities to female entrepreneurs in Raleigh and Charlotte who are cashing in on a growing business across North Carolina.

New data from the home sharing platform disclosed on International Women’s Day [Thursday] finds that 62 percent of its “hosts” for room rentals in Raleigh are women; the percentage in Charlotte is 56 percent.

The number of women hosts surged in 2017, a year in which Airbnb said the state of North Carolina saw an 88 percent increase in tax revenue from rentals over 2016 to a total of $14.5 million.

And the Airbnb business can keep hosts hopping.

“It’s turned into my part-time job because it takes me almost 30 hours a week,” Alice Hershberger told WRAL’s Mandy Mitchell recently. “We are busy all the time with all of our bookings.”

In disclosing the host data, Airbnb touted its efforts to provide women with economic opportunity.

“Airbnb cannot single-handedly tear down the many obstacles to empowerment that women face worldwide. But our platform is powered by a growing worldwide community of women hosts who are connecting with guests, each other, and their local communities,” the company said.

“In fact, historically, women hosts have outnumbered men hosts around the world. As a result, women hosts are seeing significant financial, professional, and social impact from their hosting.”

The numbers

In the Capital City, Airbnb says it has more than 880 female hosts who earned an average of $4,400. The number of female hosts grew by 35 percent.

Charlotte has more than 1,000 women hosts, an increase of 62 percent. Income averaged more than $3,500.

Overall, Airbnb  says 58 percent of hosts in the US are women with their numbers climbing to more than 263,000.

Airbnb reported last month that 2017 was a good one for the 10-year-old firm across the state.

“Last year, 778,000 families, college football fans and business travelers used Airbnb to visit the Tar Heel State, and the millions in tax revenue that our community creates will have a positive impact on the state’s education, infrastructure, and health resources for years to come,” said Will Burns, Public Policy Director for Airbnb in North Carolina.

Residents of North Carolina made almost $97 million with Airbnb last year. That’s up from $51 million in 2016.

Raleigh residents brought in $3.8 million, followed closely by Durham at $3.1 million and Chapel Hill at $1.7 million.

Airbnb also recently launched a new inspector service.