Headquarters' Cities

Map courtesy of the Martin Prosperity Institute

Corporate headquarters are both heavily concentrated in and very specialized by region, according to a new  analysis by Scott Pennington of the Martin Prosperity Institute.

Eighty-five percent of the headquarters of the largest companies in the U.S. and Canada are concentrated in a dozen or so mega-regions.

Two mega-regions - Chi-Pitts and Char-Lanta - account for almost half of all manufacturing headquarters. Chicago appears to have increased its hold on manufacturing headquarters, in effect pulling them in from other major cities in the mega-region.Not surprisingly, Hou-Orleans dominates in energy; and Nor-Cal is the center for high-tech headquarters.

Finance and insurance are more dispersed. While Bos-Wash accounts for 17 percent of finance and insurance headquarters, Char-Lanta and Tor-Buff-Chester also have significant clusters. These regions are also more diverse in their economic makeup - with significant concentrations of media and entertainment in Bos-Wash and Tor-Buff-Chester and of manufacturing in Char-lanta - perhaps leaving them more resilient in coping with the fallout from the financial crisis.