Forbes selects the top 500 companies in the United States every year, and every year, the companies on the list undergo a major transformation. As of October 2017, only 60 of the initial Fortune 500 companies in the United States had not yet gone bankrupt.
Although there are many "new faces" on the list every year, they are almost still from their old place. After analyzing past rankings, Wall Street media 247 Wallst found that out of 500 companies, nearly 180 come from six urban agglomerations in the United States. They rely on good infrastructure and a strong talent base to continuously attract enterprises to settle in, thus continuing to grow into gathering places for future business.
- New York Metropolitan Area
Number of companies on the list: 65
Total population: 20320876 (largest city)
The highest grossing listed company: Verizon, $126.03 billion
Other well-known companies: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup
The New York metropolitan area is also known as the world's financial capital because the headquarters of financial giants such as JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are located here.
But this city is definitely not only dominated by financial enterprises, but also by giants in the aviation industry, telecommunications services industry, pharmaceutical industry, and television industry. This allows the metropolitan area to accommodate a total of 65 Fortune 500 companies. It seems that all industries can find their own place here.
- Chicago Metropolitan Area
Number of companies on the list: 33
Total population: 9533895 (third largest city)
The highest grossing listed company: Walgreens Boots Alliance, $118.21 billion
Other well-known companies: Boeing, Archer Daniels Midland
Chicago is the third most populous city in the United States and also the economic center of the Midwest, playing a crucial role. 33 listed companies have set their headquarters here, including Costco Insurance, Boeing, McDonald's, and Motorola, among others. Among them, Walgreens Boots Alliance is the company with the highest revenue here, with revenue exceeding $118 billion in the 2017 fiscal year.
However, only about one-third of the listed companies are truly located within the city, while the remaining companies are mostly distributed in smaller surrounding cities.
- Dallas Metropolitan Area
Number of companies on the list: 22
Total population: 7400479 (fourth largest city)
The highest grossing listed company: ExxonMobil, $244.36 billion
Other well-known companies: AT&T, Energy Transfer Equity
Texas accounts for 21% of the country's energy production, while crude oil production accounts for up to 50%. The energy industry seems to be the dominant industry in this city. Oil giant ExxonMobil is located here, with revenue exceeding $200 billion.
However, the industry distribution in the region is not as concentrated. Telecommunications company AT&T, consumer goods company Kimberley, retail company Jessie Penny, airlines Southwest Airlines, and American Airlines all have headquarters here.
- Houston Metropolitan Area
Number of companies on the list: 21
Total population: 6892427 (fifth largest city)
The highest grossing listed company: Phillips $6691.57 billion
Other well-known companies: Sysco, ConocoPhillips
Many companies come to admire oil. Houston has a unique advantage in natural resources, with abundant oil resources like magnets, attracting Fortune 500 energy companies such as Halliburton, Kinderman, Western Oil Company, and EOG Resources Company. Since the discovery of oil in the region in the early 20th century, Houston has become an oil town in the United States. Two of Houston's three major companies are energy companies, namely Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips.
However, Houston's corporate landscape does not only accommodate energy companies. Food delivery company Sysco and waste and environmental service company Waste Management will also be headquartered here.
- Minneapolis S ã o Paulo Metropolitan Area (Twin Cities)
Number of companies on the list: 18
Total population: 3600618 (16th largest city)
The highest revenue listed company: UnitedHealth Group, $2011.6 billion
Other well-known companies: Target, Best Buy
Generally speaking, the larger the population of a city, the more companies it has on the list. The Twin Cities have broken this pattern. The Twin Cities have a population of only 3.6 million, ranking below the top ten in the country, but they have 18 companies on the list, ranking fifth in the country, only three fewer than Houston, which has a population that is almost twice that of the Twin Cities.
So far, the company with the highest revenue in the Twin Cities is the largest health insurance company in the United States, United Health Group, located in Minnetonka, western Minneapolis.
Including United Health Group, a total of 18 companies in the Twin Cities are listed on the Fortune 500 in the United States, such as retail giant Target.
- San Francisco Metropolitan Area
Number of companies on the list: 18
Total population: 4727357 (12th largest city)
The highest revenue listed company: McKesson, $198.53 billion
Other well-known companies: Chevron, Alphabet
Compared to neighboring San Jose (including Silicon Valley), San Francisco has more non-technical companies, such as McKesson, which has billions in revenue, and Wells Fargo, which has a large total asset size.
However, this does not mean that there are no high-tech companies here. Google's parent company Alphabet, social media giant Facebook, and software group Oracle are all located here.
