(Crain's) — Companies looking to relocate would find Chicago’s a better bargain than either of the country’s coasts, a study says.
The cost of operating a national headquarters or regional corporate office in Chicago for one year comes to nearly $27 million, according to a study conducted by Boyd Co., a Princeton, N.J.-based site selection firm.
That makes it cheaper than New York, which at $30.7 million topped the list of 50 cities, or Seattle, at $27.3 million. Sioux Falls, S.D., took the bottom spot with a total annual cost of $21.1 million.
Chicago ranked 11th on the list, based on data gathered in the fourth quarter of 2009.
"Chicago is cost-competitive," said John Boyd, president of Boyd Co.
The findings are in line with other reports tracked by World Business Chicago, a non-profit economic development council that aims to bring corporate headquarters to the city.
Chicago’s top competition, New York, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle, are all associated with a higher cost of doing business, said Rita Athas, World Business Chicago’s president. “If you’re looking for a city with a real global nature, we’re one of the best bets for cost reasons,” she said. “On the international scene, we’re highly competitive.”
