The headquarters of Walmart, the world’s largest retailers and one of the largest public companies, is in Bentonville, Ark., a small town with a population of roughly 35,000 people. Walmart is the exception, however. The majority of the 500 largest publicly-traded companies in the U.S. are concentrated in the biggest cities. More than one in five are located in one of only nine major U.S. cities, with the majority based in New York, Houston and Atlanta.

In general, being headquartered in a major city has its benefits. Being near a large population base is useful both as a center of commerce and information. It also helps to attract new quality employees, as people are more likely to live or move there. However, there are several small towns, cities, and suburbs that are home to at least two of country’s largest companies. In two cases, six fortune 500 companies are headquartered in these cities. Based on a review of the headquarters of the largest companies, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 small with the biggest businesses.

These 10 towns are located in five separate states, on both the east and the west coast. The companies operate in a host of industries, including credit card processing like MasterCard, food and beverage companies like PepsiCo, and real estate financing companies like Freddie Mac.

One thing these towns have in common is that each is located near a major city. Three of them — Lake Forest, Glenview, and Deerfield — are suburbs of Chicago. Two small cities, McClean and Falls Church, Va., are suburbs of D.C. These suburbs can provide a good location for corporations, drawing from the benefits of being close to a major city, as well as the positives of being in a suburb.

The composition of these suburbs can be attractive to potential employers. The majority are extremely wealthy areas that can offer a selection of high-level hires for these companies. In 2010, the most recent year for which data was consistently available, U.S. median income was $51,914. Among these 10 cities, the median income of eight was more than $70,000. The median income in five was at least $100,000, and in Lake Forest, Ill. — a suburb of Chicago — the median income was $136,801. In Lake Forest, more than 46.2% of the households in the 19,221-resident city earned at least $200,000 in a year.

24/7 Wall St. identified the towns, cities, villages and other census-designated places in which at least two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered. Of that list, we excluded cities with populations with more than 50,000 residents. Population figures and median income were from the Census’ five-year American Community Survey’s estimates from 2010, the most recent consistent available year for cities this small. Additional company data was from corporate filings and websites.

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.

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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.”

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

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