ABOUT Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina, is a city on the move. Known as the “Queen City,” Charlotte is the 26th largest city in the U.S. and the heart of the nation’s fifth largest urban region. Fortune magazine has ranked Charlotte as having the nation’s best pro-business attitude.
More than 700,000 people reside within the city of Charlotte, and approximately 2 million people call the 16-county region around the city home.
Charlotte is a business location for 328 Fortune 500 companies, including eight corporate headquarters: Bank of America, Duke Energy, Family Dollar, Goodrich, Lowe’s, Nucor Corporation, Sonic Automotive and SPX. The 15-county Charlotte region is home to 483 foreign-owned firms, representing nearly 40 nations in North Carolina.
Charlotte is the nation’s second largest banking center (only New York is bigger), with more than $1 trillion in banking assets. Other important industries in the Charlotte area include insurance, distribution, health care, manufacturing and a wide range of service industries.
Charlotte is the home of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats and the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. The Charlotte Knights are a Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, and the Charlotte Checkers are part of the East Coast Hockey League. If you’re a NASCAR fan, Lowe’s Motor Speedway is just north of Charlotte, in Concord. And, of course, we cheer on our home team, the UNC Charlotte 49ers.
Residents of the Charlotte region also enjoy a variety of arts and cultural resources, including the Mint Museums, the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center and Discovery Place. Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Arts & Science Council is the second-largest arts oversight group in the country.
Charlotte is located in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Our climate is mild and sunny. The beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains are a two-hour car ride away, and the fabulous Atlantic beaches of North and South Carolina are about 3 1/2 hours away. Some of the world’s best golf courses are within in a few hours’ drive from Charlotte.