Geography of Fortune 1000 Companies in 2015

Caitlin Dempsey

Updated:

For the past 61 years, Fortune Magazine has been ranking the top 1000 companies in the United States based on revenues for the latest respective fiscal years for each company (Fortune 500 is a subset of this list). The 2015 Fortune 1000 list was recently released. Once again, Walmart retains the number one position with $485,651 million in revenue. E*Trade Financial snags the 1000th spot on the list with $2,109 million in revenue.

This article takes a look at the basic geographical distribution of Fortune 1000 companies in 2015 by state, city, and ZIP code (the 2015 list is available here, see this list for 2016 rankings).  The data is current as of July 23, 2015 and is based on the Fortune 1000 list which is produced by Fortune, a business magazine. Street address information was appended to the list based on stated headquarters from company websites. The locations of the Fortune 1000 company headquarters were then geocoded using QGIS.

Changes in Fortune 1000 List Between 2014 and 2015

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The top five spots the same between 2014 and 2015. The top five Fortune 1000 companies in order from first to fifth place are: Walmart, Exxon Mobile, Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway, and Apple.



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There was a lot of movement on list with 452 companies rising in rank and 469 falling in rank. Only 27 companies held the same rank between 2014 and 2015. There were 52 companies on the list in 2015 that weren’t on the list last year (and subsequently 52 companies fell off the list). The biggest drop in rankings occurred with Oaktree Capitol Group which fell 350 spots from 354 to 704 between 2014 and 2015. The biggest jump was SpartanNash which jumped 452 spots from a rank of 811 in 2014 to a rank of 359 in 2015.

Taking a Look at How Fortune 1000 Headquarters are Dispersed Across the United States

Map showing the distribution of Fortune 1000 companies in 2015 for the contiguous United States. Map created using QGIS. Base layers from Natural Earth.
Map showing the distribution of Fortune 1000 companies in 2015 for the contiguous United States. Map created using QGIS. Base layers from Natural Earth.

The map above shows the geographic distribution of Fortune 1000 company headquarters across the contiguous United States. Alaska (which has none), Hawaii (2), and Puerto Rico (2) are not shown. All cities with at least eight Fortune 1000 headquarters have been labeled and a heat map has been added to visually help with identifying clusters.

An interactive map is embedded below showing all 1,000 Fortune 1000 headquarters. Users can pan, zoom, and click on individual locations to access more information. For a list of Fortune 1000 companies click here.


Which States Have the Most Fortune 1000 Companies in 2015?

There are 43 states that are home to at least one Fortune 1000 company along with Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. As with 2014, Texas leads the states with the most Fortune 1000 companies, with a total of 107 companies (a gain of four companies). California again comes in second with 101 (a loss of one company as compared with 2014). New York gained 12 companies since 2014 with a total of 100 Fortune 1000 companies. The top five states rounds out with Illinois which as 64 Fortune 1000 companies, and Ohio with 55.

Which US States Don’t Have a Fortune 1000 Company Headquarter?

There are seven states that lack a Fortune 1000 company with a headquarter in the state: Alaska, Maine, South Dakota, Wyoming, West Virginia, Montana, and New Mexico.

Fortune 1000 Company Clusters

Looking at a heatmap of the United States shows there are a few areas of the country where Fortune 1000 companies are clustered. The biggest cluster is a corridor of Fortune 1000 companies along the East Coast. Stretching from Boston, Massachusetts to Norfolk, Virginia, 267 Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered in this nine state area of the East Coast.

Map showing cluster of Fortune 1000 companies along the East Coast.
Map showing cluster of Fortune 1000 companies along the East Coast.

Buoyed by the presence of high revenue tech companies, the stretch of area from San Francisco to San Jose known as the Silicon Valley is home to 62 Fortune 1000 companies. Aside from tech companies like Google and eBay, non-tech oriented companies like Wells Fargo Bank, Levi Strauss, and William-Sonoma also make their home in this area.

Map showing cluster of Fortune 1000 companies in the Silicon Valley area.
Map showing cluster of Fortune 1000 companies in the Silicon Valley area.

The Chicago area is also home to 61 Fortune 1000 companies.

The Texas cities of Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio have many oil and energy companies that are headquartered in those metropolitan areas along with JC Penneys, AT&T, USAA, and Whole Foods, which is headquartered in Austin.

Map showing clusters of Fortune 1000 companies in Texas.
Map showing clusters of Fortune 1000 companies in Texas.

Which Cities Have the Most Fortune 1000 Headquarters?

New York City is home the most Fortune 1000 headquarters with 72, followed by Houston (49), Atlanta (22), Chicago (22), and Dallas (15).

Which ZIP Codes Have the Most Fortune 1000 Headquarters?

The ZIP Code with the most Fortune 1000 headquarters is the Houston ZIP Code with 17 Fortune 1000 companies. In second place is the New York City ZIP code of 10022 with 12 headquarters. Geographically next door to that ZIP Code is the 10036 area of New York City, which is home to 10 Fortune 1000 company headquarters. The Chicago ZIP code of 60606 is fourth on the list with eight, followed by Englewood, Colorado (80112) that also has eight company headquarters.

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About the author
Caitlin Dempsey
Caitlin Dempsey is the editor of Geography Realm and holds a master's degree in Geography from UCLA as well as a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from SJSU.