Atlanta, GA
Population: 472,522
Median Household Income: $45,171
Incentives: Development tax incentives for 120-acre downtown building
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: ATL
Austin, TX
Population: 966,860
Median Household Income: $42,689
Incentives: None
Public Transportation: Bus
Major airport: AUS
Boston, MA
Population: 673,184
Median Household Income: $53,136
Incentives: None
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: BOS
Chicago, IL
Population: 2,704,958
Median Household Income: $47,408
Incentives: $1.32 billion in state income tax credits
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: ORD
Columbus, OH
Population: 860,090
Median Household Income: $37,897
Incentives: 15% property tax abatement, new transit fund
Public Transportation: Bus
Major airport: CMH
Dallas, TX
Population: 1,317,929
Median Household Income: $40,585
Incentives: Not disclosed
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: DFW
Denver, CO
Population: 2,853,077
Median Household Income: $45,438
Incentives: Tax incentives, but amount undisclosed
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: DIA
Indianapolis, IN
Population: 855,164
Median Household Income: $42,704
Incentives: Not disclosed
Public Transportation: Bus
Major airport: IND
Los Angeles, CA
Population: 3,976,322
Median Household Income: $49,497
Incentives: None (possibly California Competes tax credit in future)
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: LAX
Miami, FL
Population: 453,579
Median Household Income: $29,621
Incentives: None
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: MIA
Montgomery County, MD
Population: 971,777
Median Household Income: $92,213
Incentives: TBD; Incentive package coming in next several weeks
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: IAD (in DC)
Nashville, TN
Population: 1,830,345
Median Household Income: $46,141
Incentives: TBD
Public Transportation:
Bus Major airport: BNA
Newark, NJ
Population: 281764
Median Household Income: 35659
Incentives: Up to $7 billion in state and city tax credits
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: EWR
New York City, NY
Population: 8,537,673
Median Household Income: $50,711
Incentives: None
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: LGA; JFK
Northern Virginia, VA
Population: 2,230,623
Median Household Income: $93,294
Incentives: TBD; $2 billion estimate
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: DCA
Philadelphia, PA
Population: 1,567,872
Median Household Income: $36,836
Incentives: $1 billion in tax incentives
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: PHL
Pittsburgh, PA
Population: 235,305
Median Household Income: $28,588
Incentives: Over $1 billion from individual bidders
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: PIT
Raleigh, NC
Population: 451,066
Median Household Income: $46,612
Incentives: Not disclosed
Public Transportation: Bus
Major airport: RDU
Toronto, ON
Population: 5,928,040
Median Household Income: $65,829
Incentives: No financial incentives but will invest in education
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: YYZ
Washington D.C.
Population: 693,972
Median Household Income: $75,628
Incentives: Up to $37,500 in reimbursements per new employee
Public Transportation: Rail, Bus
Major airport: IAD
Amazon has narrowed its list of possible locations for its second headquarters down to 20 cities and metropolitan areas from 238 proposals it received. Amazon’s $5 billion second headquarters, or “HQ2” is expected to bring 50,000 employees to the winning city, leading local and state governments to compete to offer Amazon the most promising financial incentives.
In Amazon’s request for proposal, which was released in September 2017, the company laid out its requirements for a potential host city:
- Metropolitan areas with a population of over 1 million
- A stable and business-friendly environment
- Within 30 miles (48 km) of a population center
- Within 45 minutes of an international airport
- Proximity to major highways and arterial roads 1–3 miles (2–5 km)
- Access to mass transit routes
- Up to 8 million square feet (740,000 m2) of office space for future expansion
While all the cities on the list fit the majority of the requirements, more than half have metro areas with populations under 1 million. Only Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia and Toronto satisfied the company’s population requirement.
It is not yet clear whether Amazon will publicly cut the list to an even smaller number of cities or whether its next announcement will declare a winner.