Small Towns with the Biggest Businesses

10. Harrison, N.Y.
> No. Fortune 500 companies: 2
> Population: 26,870
> Closest major city: New York
> Median income: $106,299
> Fortune 500 companies: MasterCard, PepsiCo

Harrison, a small suburb of New York City, is home to two massive multinational corporations that need no introduction, MasterCard and PepsiCo. Combined, they had more than $73 billion in revenue in 2011. The beverage company’s headquarters is home to the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens, which features 45 different pieces of art by a variety of different sculptors. Both companies also are intertwined with the universities in Purchase. One of the theaters at Purchase College is called the Pepsico Theater, while the credit card company’s employees started a scholarship fund for Manhattanville College students in Dec. 2011.

9. Lake Forest, Ill.
> No. Fortune 500 companies: 2
> Population: 19,397
> Closest major city: Chicago
> Median income: $136,801
> Fortune 500 companies: W.W. Grainger, Tenneco

Lake Forest is home to two Fortune 500 companies, W.W. Granger, a supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products, and Tenneco, an auto-parts company. The affluent suburb of Chicago, where over 40% of households earned more than $200,000 per year and median household income was $136,901, is also home to publicly traded pharmaceutical company Hospira and Brunswick Corp., which makes recreational equipment. However, the most famous organization located in Lake Forest is likely the Chicago Bears. The NFL franchise has been headquartered there since 1979 and presently owns a 100,000 sq. ft. facility, Halas Hall, on a 39-acre complex.

Also Read: Companies with the Least Valuable Employees

8. King of Prussia, Pa.
> No. Fortune 500 companies: 2
> Population: 19,735
> Closest major city: Philadelphia
> Median income: $72,357
> Fortune 500 companies: UGI Corp. , Universal Health Services

Two Fortune 500 corporations are headquartered in King of Prussia, UGI Corp. and Universal Health Services. UGI is an energy holding company that sells propane in the U.S. and abroad, and provides gas utility services in Pennsylvania. Universal Health Services, founded locally in 1978, owns and operates 218 medical facilities, most of which focus on behavioral health care– treating addiction and mental health. In addition to these two companies, according to the King of Prussia Business Improvement District, hundreds of companies have area offices. Over 55,000 people work in King of Prussia, making it the largest employment center in the Philadelphia suburbs.

7. Glenview, Ill.
> No. Fortune 500 companies: 2
> Population: 43,649
> Closest major city: Chicago
> Median income: $107,037
> Fortune 500 companies: Anixter International, Illinois Tool Works

Glenview, Ill. is a wealthy suburb located to the southwest of Chicago. It had a median household income of more than double the national median of $51,914 and a poverty rate of 3.8%, compared to a national rate of 13.8%. The village is home to two major fortune 500 companies: Anixter International, a global supplier of communication equipment, and Illinois Tool Works, which manufactures tools and other products. Anixter employs about 1,000 people in Illinois, the majority of whom work in Glenview. The company announced in August it would be constructing a new building in its headquarters, stating that the new annex “is a reflection of the company’s overall strong growth and commitment to the Village of Glenview.”

6. El Segundo, Calif.
> No. Fortune 500 companies: 2
> Population: 16,534
> Closest major city: Los Angeles
> Median income: $89,926
> Fortune 500 companies: DirecTV, Mattel

El Segundo, Calif., a well-to-do suburb of Los Angeles, is home to two Fortune 500 companies: satellite TV provider DirecTV and toy maker Mattel. DirecTV currently employs 1,981 people in El Segundo, a company spokeswoman told 24/7 Wall St. The company in Nov. 2011 announced it was nearly doubling the size of its headquarters in a lease valued at more than $300 million. The company said it plans to continue to expand its headquarters in the 16-year time frame of the agreement, eventually occupying 720,000 sq. ft. Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 of Mattel’s approximately 28,000 employees work in El Segundo, where employees “design, develop and market the toys.”