The Bay Area Council Economic Institute serves one of the world’s most innovative, competitive and diverse regional economies. The success of the Bay Area economy is built on an unparalleled culture of entrepreneurship. The Bay Area competes strongly in national and international markets as a knowledge-based, innovation-led economy.

Global & National Competitiveness

With an economy of almost $433 billion, the Bay Area ranks 24th in the world when compared to national economies. On a per capita basis, it ranks ahead of all national economies, including the U.S. The region is at the cutting edge of global technology, and is a leader in many key indicators of regional, global and national competitiveness, including:

• The nation’s largest concentration of national laboratories, corporate and independent research laboratories, and leading research universities;
• The top global innovation center, with the highest concentration of innovation-related jobs in the U.S.;
• The largest number of top-ten ranked graduate programs in business, law, medicine and engineering in the nation;
• The highest density of venture capital firms in the world, with more than one third of total U.S. venture capital funding invested in the region;
• More Fortune 500 companies than any U.S. region except New York, the sixth highest concentration of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world (after New York, London, Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing), and a much larger proportion of small businesses than other metropolitan regions;
• The highest Internet penetration of any U.S. region;
• The highest level of patent generation in the nation, with more patents generated per employee than any other major metropolitan area;
• One of the two most highly educated workforces in the nation, with a high percentage of residents with graduate and professional degrees;
• A leading position in global trade;
• The highest economic productivity in the nation—almost twice the U.S. average.

Nine-County Region

The nine-county Bay Area embraces San Francisco, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, and includes the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, as well as the high technology center of Silicon Valley and the heart of Northern California’s wine country.

With a market of more than six million residents, the Bay Area is California’s second largest and the nation’s fourth largest metropolitan region. While costs in the region are comparatively high, this is more than offset by its extraordinary economic productivity.

Rated the premier knowledge economy in the nation, the Bay Area offers a unique business environment for companies whose competitiveness depends on creativity, innovation, technological leadership, and the diverse and highly trained workforce required to compete and win in today’s global markets.