Nonprofits as large employers: A city-level geographical inquiry

Where do nonprofit organizations rank as large employers in cities? In particular, how do large nonprofits compare in size and rank with for-profit corporations and public organizations in different U.S. cities? Using data obtained from Chambers of Commerce, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and city business journals, the authors take a step in exploring the relationship of cities to large employing organizations by developing an organizational/sectoral landscape of the 72 major metropolitan areas in the United States. The authors test hypotheses concerning the sectoral types of organizations that dominate the top 10 employers of cities, and the role of regionalism in patterning these observations is explored.