Charlotte has eight companies on the 2021 Fortune 500 list
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Lowe's at Northlake Mall (Photo: Lowe's Cos.)
The Charlotte metro is once again home to eight Fortune 500 companies, according to the latest list from Fortune.
Here’s where they all stand:
29. Bank of America
31. Lowe’s
94. Honeywell
119. Truist
126. Duke Energy
149. Nucor
308. Sonic Automotive
353. Brighthouse Financial
LPL Financial, which is “dual-headquartered” in Fort Mill and San Diego, debuted on the Fortune 500 last at No. 466. CommScope, which has its headquarters in nearby Hickory, came in at No. 356.
Why it matters: Companies with headquarters in the Charlotte area directly generate thousands of jobs and support other industries like construction and retail, as the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance has noted.
- Employment in the headquarters sector (companies with a HQ here) is twice as large in Charlotte as the national average, based on our population, per the Alliance.
- Headquartered companies play an outsized role when it comes to community involvement, too. Honeywell worked with other private sector parters on mass vaccination events in the area, for instance. Bank of America has pledge billions to help alleviate the affordable housing crisis.
For a city its size, Charlotte fares well with the number of Fortune 500 companies that call the city home. By comparison, Austin has two Fortune 500 companies, as does Raleigh, according to the latest list. Nashville has five, and Denver has 10. Minneapolis, meanwhile, boasts 16 Fortune 500 corporations.
The eight Fortune 500 companies based in Charlotte together generated $394 billion in revenue.
For perspective, here’s what $394 billion will get you in Charlotte:
- 🏠 947,000 basic homes, at the area’s most recent average list price of $416,042.
- 🛶 1.8 billion annual passes to the Whitewater Center, at $219 each.
- 🍗 52.5 billion quarter-chicken dark meals at Price’s Chicken Coop, at $7.50 each.
(A note from Michael re Price’s: if the math works out, this many meals from Price’s equates to approximately 1 trillion “well, actually” people telling you the better fried chicken is at the gas station across the street).
Editor’s note: We’ve updated this story with LPL Financial, which Fortune had listed as having its headquarters in San Diego.