5. Canonsburg, Pa.
> No. Fortune 500 companies: 2
> Population: 8,917
> Closest major city: Pittsburgh
> Median income: $47,228
> Fortune 500 companies: Consol Energy, Mylan
Unlike many towns with several major corporate headquarters, Canonsburg is not particularly wealthy– it has a median income that is below the national average of just over $50,000. Canonsburg, a suburb of Pittsburgh, is home to the headquarters of natural gas and coal producer Consol Energy and generic pharmaceutical company Mylan. Consol bought the naming rights to the Consol Energy Center — home of the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins and Arena Football League’s Pittsburgh Power — back in 2008. Meanwhile, Mylan has the naming rights to the pharmacy school at Duquesne University.
4. Falls Church, Va.
> Fortune 500 companies: 3
> Population: 11,465
> Closest major city: Washington, D.C.
> Median income: $114,409
> Fortune 500 companies: Computer Sciences Corporation, General Dynamics , Northrop Grumman
Falls Church is one of two communities in Fairfax County with multiple Fortune 500 company headquarters. The proximity to the Pentagon makes the Fairfax area an ideal place to station defense contractors. Northrop Grumman, which had revenue of $28 billion in its last full year, moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to the Washington D.C. area in 2011, where more than 20,000 employees were already employed. The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority notes that Northrop Grumman has over 4,000 people employed in the county. The other major defense contractor in Falls Church, General Dynamics, employs over 1,000 people in the vicinity, as does information technology company Computer Sciences Corporation.
Also Read: Small Towns with Soaring Housing Markets
3. Deerfield, Ill.
> Fortune 500 companies: 3
> Population: 18,405
> Closest major city: Chicago
> Median income: $131,534
> Fortune 500 companies: Baxter International, CF Industries Holdings, United Stationers, Walgreen
Deerfield, a wealthy suburb of less than 20,000 people located in Chicago’s northern suburbs, is home to four different Fortune 500 companies. This includes United Stationers, a wholesale distributor, CF Industrial Holdings, a fertilizer company, and Baxter International, a medical equipment company. The largest corporation in Deerfield is Walgreen — the second-largest American drugstore chain — which had revenue of more than $72 billion in the last full year, making the company the 32nd largest in the U.S. and the second largest in Illinois. Walgreen announced in August it plans to add 500 employees to its existing workforce of 5,000 in Deerfield.
2. McLean, Va.
> Fortune 500 companies: 6
> Population: 46,132
> Closest major city: Washington, D.C.
> Median income: $164,888
> Fortune 500 companies: Booz Allen Hamilton Holding , Capital One Financial, Exelis, Freddie Mac, Gannett, SAIC
McLean, located in the Washington D.C. area, is home to six different Fortune 500 companies. In addition, Mars Incorporated, which Forbes ranked as the third-largest private company in 2011 with about $30 billion in revenue, is also located in McLean. According to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton had more than 7,000 employees in the county. Meanwhile, government-controlled mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac and Science Applications International Corporation each employed at least 4,000 workers in the area. Not all of these companies are technically located in McLean–many are located in the adjacent business district of Tysons Corner. While the district received its own address in 2011, many businesses in Tysons Corner use McLean as part of their address.
1. Englewood, Colo.
> Fortune 500 companies: 6
> Population: 30,342
> Closest major city: Denver
> Median income: $42,416
> Fortune 500 companies: Arrow Electronics , CH2M Hill , DISH Network, Liberty Interactive, Liberty Global , Western Union
The largest company by revenue in the city, Arrow Electronics, which provides electronic components as well as computing products and services, moved to Colorado in 2011. Other major corporations include engineering services provider CH2M Hill and money transfer provider Western Union. Two local Fortune businesses, cable and media companies Liberty Global and Liberty Media, are chaired by billionaire John Malone. According to the New York Times, in 2007 Malone agreed to rescue Sirius XM from bankruptcy, preventing a hostile takeover planned by rival billionaire Charles Ergen, the chairman of DISH Network — another Fortune 500 company located in Englewood.
-By Alexander E.M. Hess, Samuel Weigley, Michael B. Sauter
