2. The St. Louis region is one of the nation’s 20 largest metro areas and home to nearly 3 million, spread across suburban
and urban areas in two states. It has a robust economywith 18 Fortune 1000 companies, including
nine Fortune 500 firms, calling St. Louis home. Well-known firms headquartered in St. Louis include Edward Jones,
Emerson, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Express Scripts, Monsanto and Panera Bread. Other multinational corporations
with a large St. Louis presence include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Boeing and Nestle Purina.
St. Louis prides itself on being a strategically located,
well-connected community. It is a place where leaders of
the business community know one another and work
together to grow the region.
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN FAIR ST. LOUIS AT FOREST PARK FOX THEATRE CITY MUSEUM
BIKE RACING DOWNTOWN
REGIONAL OVERVIEW
The region boasts a competitive cost of living, access to
a highly educated workforce and an enviable quality of life.
The area is home to many world-class cultural amenities
such as City Museum, Forest Park, the Gateway Arch,
the Grand Center theatre district, the Missouri Botanical
Garden, the St. Louis Symphony and the St. Louis Zoo.
Sports enthusiasts enjoy the presence of MLB, NFL and
NHL teams, along with various minor league, college and
semi-pro teams. The region is also home to countless
destinations for music, arts and entertainment.
3. ECONOMIC & BUSINESS GROWTHECONOMIC & BUSINESS GROWTH
This growth strategyis a community-
wide effort. Major employers in the area, such as Boeing,
Edward Jones, Emerson, Express Scripts, Monsanto,
Reinsurance Group of America and Wells Fargo
Advisors, have significantly expanded their
workforces in recent years.
Four sectors
are key drivers towards continued growth in
St. Louis and are the current focus of the
Regional Chamber’s strategic plan:
Financial &
Information Services
Health Economy
Biosciences
Multimodal Logistics
& Advanced Manufacturing
ST. LOUIS REGIONAL CHAMBER | 3
4. To build an even stronger St. Louis for the future, our region’s strategic plan
is focused on three growth priorities:
Greater
Educational Attainment
Talent Attraction
& Inclusion
Innovation
& Entrepreneurship
TALENT GROWTH
The St. Louis area’s thriving entrepreneurial scene is
supported by regional programs, such as Accelerate
St. Louis, which is bringing talent and investment
to the startup ecosystem.
Home to innovation centers such as BRDG Park,
the Cambridge Innovation Center, and the Cortex
Innovation Community and supported by access
to capital and mentorship, the St. Louis region is an
innovation ecosystem that enables entrepreneurs to
launch and grow their vision. The regional startup
scene combines multiple innovation hubs, top-tier
support organizations and highly skilled mentors ready
and willing to lend
advice, all built on
the vibrant spirit of
innovation ingrained
in the history of
St. Louis.
The St. Louis region is an
innovation ecosystem that
enables entrepreneurs
to launch and grow
their vision.
accelerate st l.org
5. St.Louis
City
Calhoun
Lincoln
Warren St. Charles
St. Louis
Franklin
MISSOURI
ILLINOIS
Jefferson Monroe
St. Clair
Madison
Bond
Jersey
Clinton
Macoupin
DEMOGRAPHICS
St. Louis is the 19th
largest
metropolitan areain the United States,
with a population of more than 2.8 million people and more
than 1.1 million households. The metropolitan area
comprises all or part of seven different counties
in Missouri and eight in Illinois.
The median household incomein the
St. Louis area was $51,164 in 2013, which is more than
the $50,502 U.S. median. Per capita income was
$28,170, compared to $26,708 in the U.S.
Highly diverse,the St. Louis region
attracts about 50,000 new people into the area every
year, including a sizable immigrant population. More than
four percent of the population was born outside of the U. S.
In particular, the St. Louis area is home to 60,000 Bosnians,
the largest population outside of Bosnia.
ST. LOUIS
METROPOLITAN AREA
2.8 million population
19th
largest metropolitan area in the United States
1.1 million households
ST. LOUIS REGIONAL CHAMBER | 5
6. St. Louis Metro
WORKFORCE
The cost of doing businessis
significantly lower in the St. Louis region compared to
similarly sized regions. Accounting firm KPMG has listed
the St. Louis area as the 9th most cost-competitive large
metropolitan area to conduct business in, based on a variety
of factors. As of mid-2014, the average available Class A
office space cost just $21.73 per square foot compared to
$28.55 across the country as a whole, according to CoStar.
The cost for available warehouse space was just $3.76
per square foot compared to $4.78 across the U.S. The
St. Louis region’s industrial electric rates were the second
lowest in the U.S. among those surveyed by Memphis
Light, Gas and Water in 2013.
Both Missouri and Illinois offer a host of different incentives
and tax credits to encourage business formation and
investment. These programs include Missouri Works,
which facilitates the creation of high-quality jobs by targeted
business projects, and Illinois EDGE, which is designed to
offer tax incentives to encourage companies to expand
or relocate to Illinois. Both states benefit from the Missouri-
Illinois collaborative approach to business attraction.
The St. Louis region fosters a tax-friendly
business climate, with the state of Missouri especially
receiving high marks. According to the Tax Foundation’s
2015 State Business Tax Climate Index, Missouri ranked
among the top third of all states in overall business
tax climate. The state ranked among the top states in the
lowest corporate taxes (4th
), property taxes (7th
) and
unemployment insurance taxes (12th
). Illinois ranked
11th
best in Individual Income Tax Rank. Illinois also
has no personal property taxes, providing a significant
advantage to many types of businesses.
BUSINESS COSTS / TAXES / INCENTIVES
The St. Louis metro workforce
of more than 1.4 million provides a great range of available
education, skills and experience. Businesses have access to
a wealth of highly educated and trained talent at wages below
U.S. averages. For a metropolitan area its size, St. Louis has
very competitive wage rates, representing a cost advantage
for firms operating in this market. Overall wage rates for
St. Louis are slightly below the U.S. averages according
to 2013 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
$21.73
$28.55
Average Costs for Available Space
(per square foot)
Office
(Class A)
St. Louis
U.S.
$3.76
$4.78 $4.76
Warehouse
St. Louis
U.S.
= 1.4 MILLION
STL
U.S.
Overall
WAGE RATES
Comparison
7. TRANSPORTATION / INFRASTRUCTURE
Because of these factors, St. Louis has become an
attractive location for distribution and
manufacturing facilities,with
several available locations well suited to distribution and
manufacturing that are near airports, major river routes,
interstates, rail hubs, pipelines and intermodal sites. The
largest distribution park in the region, the Gateway
Commerce Center, is home to distribution sites of
major companies such as Hershey, Unilever and
Procter & Gamble.
The St. Louis region also is home to two different Foreign-
Trade Zones (FTZs) that have easy access to truck, rail, barge
and air transportation. FTZ 31 is a public-private venture
operated by the America’s Central Port District with several
thousand acres including sites at Gateway Commerce Center
and MidAmerica Airport. FTZ 102 includes several business
and industrial parks near Lambert-St. Louis International
Airport and covers all of the City of St. Louis and St. Louis
County under the Alternate Site Framework. The Port of
Metropolitan St. Louis is also the most northern ice-free port
on the Mississippi and is south of the lock and dam system,
enabling efficient transportation of goods into and out of
the Midwest at any time of the year, to or from any part
of the globe.
Commuters also have quality access to public
transportation. The region’s public transportation system,
Metro, carries 40 million passengers a year, with a system
that includes 46 miles of MetroLink train tracks with 37
stations in Missouri and Illinois, as well as MetroBus, the
region’s bus system, and Metro Call-A-Ride, a paratransit
van system. Madison County Transit and St. Charles Area
Transit System also align with Metro.
St. Louis’ strategic location, affordable real estate and robust transportation
infrastructure make it easy to ship goods quickly, at a competitive cost.
4
Interstate
Highways
5
Airports
3
Rivers
6
Class I
Railroads
ST. LOUIS REGIONAL CHAMBER | 7
stlgateway.com
8. College Attainment
in the Largest 20 Metropolitan Areas
The St. Louis region has a nationally decorated
higher education system,with leading
research universities including Washington University
in St. Louis and Saint Louis University bringing students,
talent and research dollars from across the world. St. Louis is
also home to leading public universities such as the University
of Missouri-St. Louis and Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville. Moreover, the region is host to many additional
private universities and a number of community colleges
that provide specialized training and education to the
area workforce.
TALENT / WAGES
Washington University
in St. Louis
Saint Louis University
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS
ST. LOUIS
20th
14th
GOAL=10TH
The St. Louis area currently ranks
14th
of the largest 20 metropolitan areas
in college attainmentand is
working hard to secure a place in the top
ten. The St. Louis area is home to almost 50
colleges and universities, which together
enroll more than 200,000 students.
9. With approximately 50,000 people moving to St. Louis
every year, the ability to assimilate those new to
St. Louis into the community is a regional priority.
The region has multiple initiatives aimed at
strengthening economic inclusionin
the St. Louis area. The St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative
helps build successful diversity and inclusion programs at
area companies through training, convening and consulting.
The initiative has established a series of programs to help
companies as well as minority employees and vendors
improve inclusion efforts through programs such as skill-
building, monthly networking meetings and sharing of best
practices. The Initiative Fellows Program provides leadership
training to promising minority professionals.
Nearly 400 participants in the year long program have
received training and guidance on career development,
networking, communications, effectiveness
and leadership.
The region is also committed to attracting
immigrant talentto the region. The
St. Louis Mosaic Project, launched in 2013, is working
to make St. Louis the fastest growing U.S. metro area for
immigration by 2020. As part of that effort, the Regional
Chamber, along with other public and private groups,
are coordinating community services, better connecting
businesses to the immigrant community and linking
the immigrant population to religious and
community organizations.
INCLUSION
ST. LOUIS REGIONAL CHAMBER | 9
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
10. With all the amenities you’d expect in a major metropolitan
area, the St. Louis area is also surrounded by a wealth of
natural resources. St. Louis area residents’ entertainment
options are plentiful, diverse and world-renowned.
There are a wide range of regional attractions
and cultural events.
There is a sense of community, a connectedness among
its people, that arises from its Midwestern personality,
manageable scale and deep history.
Of the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the
country, the St. Louis region had the second-
lowest cost of livingaccording
to the 2014 ACCRA Cost Of Living Index.
Housing is particularly affordable, with the ACCRA housing
index being 26 percent less in the region compared to the
U.S. metro average. The National Association of Home
Builders ranked the region as the most affordable of the
20 largest U.S. metro areas, with 81 percent of the homes
sold in the area affordable for a family earning the median
income in second quarter 2014. The average two bedroom
apartment* rent for the St. Louis area is $811, compared
to the national average of $893 according to ACCRA.
Commute timesin the St. Louis area are
also among the lowest of all large metropolitan areas
in the U.S.
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
largest 20 msas
Travel Time Index
1.0 = NON-PEAK COMMUTE TIME
GEOGRAPHY INDEX
St. Louis, MO-IL 1.14
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 1.18
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 1.18
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA 1.18
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 1.20
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 1.21
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 1.22
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 1.23
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 1.23
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 1.24
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 1.25
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 1.25
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 1.26
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 1.26
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 1.26
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 1.26
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 1.28
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 1.32
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 1.33
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 1.37
COST OF LIVING / QUALITY OF LIFE
* 2 bedroom, 1½ - 2 bathroom, 950 sq. ft. apartment.
Source: Texas A&M Transportation Institute
