Houston is the fourth most populous city in the United States. The Houston-sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area is also the seventh largest metropolitan area in the United States. Similar to other large metropolitan areas, the Houston metropolitan area has a tremendous concentration of business and commerce. The Houston metropolitan area is home to nearly fifty Fortune 1000 company headquarters, and Houston ranks third among metropolitan statistical areas in the number of Fortune 500 headquarters, behind New York, and Chicago.
The Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) ranks certain cities as "Global Cities" (also known as world cities or world-class cities). There are three tiers of ranking, alpha (first-tier), beta (second-tier) and gamma (third tier), based on a cities "tangible effect on global affairs through socioeconomic, cultural, and/or political means" (Wikipedia). Houston is one of eleven U.S. global cities ranked as a "World City". Houston is ranked as a "Gamma World City" by GaWC, on a par with Boston, Dallas, and Washington.
In Houston, the energy industry, based on oil and gas exploration and production, is a major driver of the Houston economy. The Houston area is also the world's leading manufacturing center for oil field equipment. Houston is one of the world's largest centers of petrochemical manufacturing, including synthetic rubber, insecticides, and fertilizers. Other major industries in Houston include:
- Aeronautics
- Agriculture
- Banking and finance
- Biomedical research
- Commercial fishing
- Education
- Engineering services
- Health services
- High-technology (computer, aerospace, environmental, etc.)
- Manufacturing
- Professional and business services
- Shipping (International import and export)
- Wholesale and retail trade
The Port of Houston, a man-made shipping channel, is first in the United States in international commerce, and is the sixth largest port in the world. Among US ports, it is the busiest port in foreign tonnage and second busiest port in overall tonnage.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Houston ranks eleventh on the list of US cities who receive the most annual funding from the NIH.
Some major companies of note in and around Houston include:
- A.D. Vision
- Air Liquide
- American General
- Baker Hughes
- BHP Billiton
- BMC Software
- BP
- The Boeing Company - IDS NASA Systems
- Brooks Information Technology
- Centerpoint Energy
- Citgo
- ConocoPhillips
- Continental Airlines
- Cooper Industries
- Dominion Exploration and Production
- Duke Natural Gas Co.
- Dynegy
- EGL - Eagle Global Logistics
- El Paso Corporation (formerly El Paso Energy)
- Enron
- Fiesta Mart
- Foley's
- Gerland's
- Halliburton
- Landry's
- Lewis Food Town
- Lyondell Chemical Company
- Luby's
- Marathon Oil
- Men's Wearhouse
- Pro-Mark Corporation
- Reliant Energy
- Service Corporation International
- Smith International
- Sysco
- Swishahouse
- Unocal 76
- U.S. Liquids
- Waste Management, Inc.
- Weatherford International
Some of the major business organizations in and around Houston include:
- The Greater Houston Partnership
- The Greater Southwest Houston Chamber of Commerce
- The Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce
- The Houston Technology Center (HTC)
- The Houston West Chamber of Commerce
- The Small Business Development Center
The Houston Business Journal, and the Business Section of the Houston Chronicle are excellent sources of information on business in the Houston metropolitan area.