The St. Louis region, home of the largest metropolitan area in Missouri, boasts world-class museums, universities, hospitals, restaurants, shopping, and professional sports teams, such the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.  Leading industries include Plant and Medical Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, Information Technology, Financial Services, Transportation and Distribution. Ten Fortune 500 firms are headquartered in the region, including Express Scripts, Emerson Electric, and Monsanto.

February 2012: Anheuser-Busch InBev announced plans to expand its Metal Container Corp. facility in Arnold, Mo., creating at least 20 new jobs.

January 2012: Xiolink announced it would hire 15 for its data center in St. Louis.

December 2011: TDK Technologies, a St. Louis-based Information Technology consulting company, announced they had hired 14 employees over the past two months to support their recent growth.

November 2011: World Wide Technology announced an expansion of its Maryland Heights headquarters that could create 100 jobs over the next three years.

Post Holdings Inc. announced it will create at least 150 jobs in St. Louis.

September 2011: General Motors announced a $380 million investment into its Wentzville assembly plant, adding over 1,200 jobs and a new pickup line.

Digital Intelligence Systems Corp., a McLean, Va.-based IT staffing and consulting company, announced plans to hire 75 people for its new St. Louis office.

At&T announced the hiring of 64 additional technicians in the Bridgeton area to support the growth of its U-verse services.

August 2011:  SyMyCo, an international bioscience company, announced it was locating at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis County, creating 80 new jobs. SyMyCo is a subsidiary of Symbiotic Sciences Ltd., which is based in India.

RR Donnelly, a Chicago-based commercial printing company that manufactures books, manuals and publications, announced it was expanding its operations in Owensville, Mo., and adding 105 new jobs.

July 2011: Leinco Technologies announced they would spend $3.2 million to add 48 new bioscience jobs to its existing workforce of 16 and expand in the former Chrysler supplier complex in Fenton. Leinco provides research services and specialty bioscience manufacturing to scientists and researchers.

Emerald Automotive, a British company, announced plans to build hybrid electric vans and add 580 jobs at a new $175 million plant in Hazelwood.

Spartech, a manufacturer of sustainable plastics, announced plans to hire 40 scientists and design engineers for its new Technology & Innovation Center in Maryland Heights.

June 2011: National Sales Co. in St. Louis announced plans to invest $2.9 million in a new building and add 10 new jobs.

May 2011: Gallus Pharmaceuticals, a maker of biologic pharmaceuticals, announced they would locate a production facility in the St. Louis County town of Berkeley, retaining 160 workers from a plant it purchased and eventually adding another 160.

Key Industries:

Plant and Medical Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, Information Technology, Financial Services, Transportation and Distribution

Major Employers:

Ameren Corporation: (HQ St. Louis)
Boeing Defense, Space  & Security Unit: (Hazelwood)
Centene: (HQ St. Louis)
Charter Communications: (HQ St. Louis)
Covidien: (Hazelwood)
Edward Jones: (HQ St. Louis)
Emerson Electric Co.: (HQ St. Louis)
Energizer Holdings: (HQ St. Louis) 
Enterprise Rent-a-Car: (HQ St. Louis)
Express Scripts, Inc.: (HQ St. Louis)
General Motors: (Wentzville)
GKN Aerospace North America: (HQ Hazelwood)
Graybar Electric: (HQ St. Louis)  
Mastercard International: (O’Fallon)
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.: (HQ St. Peters)
Monsanto: (HQ St. Louis)
Nestle Purina PetCare: (HQ St. Louis)
Olin Corp.: (HQ Clayton)  
Peabody Energy (HQ St. Louis)
Ralcorp Holdings (HQ St. Louis)
Reinsurance Group of America: (HQ Chesterfield)
Scottrade (HQ St. Louis)
Sigma-Aldrich (HQ St. Louis)
Solutia: (HQ St. Louis)
Wells Fargo Advisors: (St. Louis) 
UniGroup Inc.: (HQ Fenton) 

Area	Population 2010	Population Projection 2030	Civilian Labor Force	Employment	Unemployment	Unemployment Rate
Franklin County	101,308	117,122	52,826	48,231	4,595	8.70%
Jefferson County	220,066	260,276	117,318	107,163	10,155	8.70%
St. Charles County	358,667	499,126	197,487	183,292	14,195	7.20%
St. Louis City	356,009	349,004	525,212	478,925	46,287	8.80%
St. Louis County	991,974	956,817	161,872	143,008	18,864	11.70%
St. Louis Region Summary	2,028,024	2,182,345	1,054,715	960,619	94,096	8.90%

Median Wages:

The regional average wage was $944 per week in the 1st Quarter of 2011.

Major roads in the region include I-44, I-55, I-64, I-70, US-40, US-50, US-61, and US-67. I-44 begins in St. Louis, passing through Springfield and Oklahoma City before terminating in Texas. I-55 allows travel from Chicago to Louisiana, passing through Memphis. I-64’s west-most portion is in the St. Louis region; the interstate begins in Virginia. Major cities on I-70 west of St. Louis include Kansas City and Denver; major cities on I-70 east of St. Louis include Dayton and Indianapolis.

US-40 begins in New Jersey and ends in Utah. US-50 provides access to almost the entire continental U.S., beginning in Maryland and terminating in California. US-61 provides transportation from St. Paul to New Orleans, passing through Memphis, Vicksburg, and Davenport. US-67 begins in Iowa and ends at the U.S.-Mexico border at Presidio.

St. Louis is one of the nation’s largest rail centers, with 6 Class I carriers: Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Canadian National Railway, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is the area’s largest airport, and one of only 2 major commercial airports in the state.

The City of St. Louis Port Authority is the northern-most point on the Mississippi that remains ice-free year-round.

St. Louis (Pop: 319,294)
O’Fallon (79,329)
St. Charles (65,794)
St. Peters (52,575)
Florissant (52,158)
Chesterfield (47,484)
Wildwood (35,517)
University City (35,371)
Ballwin (30,404)
Kirkwood (27,540)
Maryland Heights (27,472)
Hazelwood (25,703)
Webster Groves (22,995)
Ferguson (21,203)
Arnold (20,808)

Higher Education Institutions

East Central College: (Union) 2-year, public 
Fontbonne University: (St. Louis) 4-year, private 
Harris-Stowe University: (St. Louis) 4-year, public
Jefferson College: (Hillsboro) 2-year, public   
Lindenwood University: (St. Charles) 4-year, private 
Maryville University: (St. Louis) 4-year, private 
Missouri Baptist University: (St. Louis) 4-year, private 
St. Charles Community College: (Cottleville) 2-year, public 
St. Louis Community College: (Kirkwood, St. Louis, Wildwood) 2-year, public
St. Louis University: (St. Louis) 4-year, private
University of Missouri-St. Louis: 4-year, public
Washington University: (St. Louis) 4-year, private 
Webster University: (St. Louis) 4-year, private

Educational Attainment

Area	High School Diplomas	Associate's Degrees	Bachelor's Degrees	Graduate Degrees	Total
Franklin County, MO	25,661	6,202	6,952	3,858	42,673
Jefferson County, MO	55,297	14,935	14,754	6,863	91,849
St. Charles County, MO	63,970	20,110	52,808	23,920	160,808
St. Louis city, MO	64,046	12,562	33,560	23,972	134,140
St. Louis County, MO	161,505	47,378	160,937	102,357	472,177
St. Louis Region	370,479	101,187	269,011	160,970	901,647
Source: ESRI. Population 25+, 2010.

Center for Emerging Technologies: (St. Louis) The CET develops start-up companies in biotechnology, biomedical engineering, advanced materials, and electronics. Stereotaxis, the developer of an advanced cardiology control system for use in surgery, became the first of its companies to complete a public offering.

Center of Research, Technology, and Entrepreneurial Exchange (CORTEX):  (St. Louis) Cortex is intended to house companies graduating from the incubator and companies attracted to the region because of the proximity to the research institutions.

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center:  Research at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center includes biofortification of foods and feeds, crop drought tolerance, genetic mechanisms to control pests and pathogens, and the development of plants as biorenewable resources.

International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability at Washington University in St. Louis (I-CARES): I-CARES was created in June 2007 to encourage and coordinate University-wide and external collaborative research on energy, environment, and sustainability that cannot be done by single investigators or by single disciplines alone. I-CARES fosters research on: the development and production of biofuels from plant and microbial systems; the exploration of sustainable alternative energy; and the exploration of environmental systems and practices

Missouri Botanical Garden : (St. Louis) With nearly 50 Ph.D. botanists, the Garden conducts the most productive and geographically widespread botanical research program in the world. The Garden’s Herbarium is one of the world’s outstanding research resources for specimens and information on bryophytes and vascular plants, containing over 6 million specimens.

Missouri Research Park: (St. Louis) Officially opened in 1985, the Park now has more than 130 acres developed for high-tech and research facilities and houses 17 tenant companies that employ more than 2,000 people.

Siteman Cancer Center: (St. Louis) The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is an international leader in cancer treatment, research, prevention, education and community outreach.

St. Louis Institute of Nanomedicine Working Group: Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, the University of Missouri—St. Louis, and St. Louis Community College recently formed the St. Louis Institute of Nanomedicine Working Group. The Working Group received a grant from the Missouri Life Sciences Research Fund to pay for four pilot projects a year for research on applying advances in nanotechnology to the treatment of human diseases.

St. Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development: The Center is designed to conduct basic and clinical research on new vaccines and biologics. It houses SLU scientists working in five key research areas: cancer, liver disease, heart/lung disease, aging and brain disease, and biodefense/vaccine development.

University of Missouri—St. Louis Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center:   The Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center, initiated by UMSL in cooperation with the Missouri Botanical Garden almost 20 years ago, has grown into one of the world's preeminent centers for education and research in tropical biology.

University of Missouri-St. Louis Center for Transportation Studies: Researchers at the Center for Transportation Studies have performed transportation analysis for companies including Forward Air Corporation, St. Onge Company, Lanter Company, and Emerson Motor Company.

Washington University Center for Materials Innovation: A community of scholars focused on the creation, study and use of materials, including nanostructured materials, for aerospace.

Washington University Genome Sequencing Center: (St. Louis) The center was chosen as one of the first three sites to begin full-scale human sequencing as part of the Human Genome project. Scientists there were the first in the world to decode the complete DNA sequence of a cancer patient. 

 

With plentiful schools, a low cost of living, highly-ranked hospitals, and many recreational options, the St. Louis region boasts an excellent quality of life.

Hospitals in the St. Louis region consistently ranked among the best in the nation include: Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis University Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, the Missouri Baptist Medical Center, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, St. Mary’s Health Center, and Mercy Hospital St. Louis.

Professional sports teams in St. Louis include the Blues (hockey), the Rams (football), and the Cardinals (baseball).

The regions many parks offer endless recreational options. The nationally acclaimed Forest Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country at 1,300 acres, features the Saint Louis Zoo, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, the Municipal Opera, the Saint Louis Science Center, and much more. Tower Grove Park, at 289 acres, is adjacent to the Missouri Botanical Garden, a 79 acre public garden and botanical research center, founded in 1859. 

Other attractions in the area include the Magic House-St. Louis’ Children’s Museum, Six Flags St. Louis, the Gateway Arch, as well as numerous casinos.