BOULDER - The Boulder area had the nation's highest concentration of female executives in 2012, according to research of U.S. Census records done by a business consulting company.

In a study released Monday, Austin, Texas-based Avalanche Consulting reported that Boulder had 17 top women executives for every 1,000 female workers, more than twice the national average.

The Denver-Boulder metropolitan area ranked No. 22 on the list, with 11.3 female executives per 1,000 women workers. Rounding out the top 10 were: Bridgeport, Connecticut; Akron, Ohio; Bremerton, Washington; St. Cloud, Minnesota; Hagerstown, Maryland; Reno-Sparks, Nevada; Santa Cruz, California; Montgomery, Alabama; and San Francisco.

Fewer than one in four top executives in the United States are women, according to the survey.