Top employers in Atlanta and their effects on real estate.
Aside from things like interest rates and demographics, national and state economies ultimately have one of greatest impacts on real estate. Since economies are intrinsically linked to employment, we figured it would be interesting to analyze the top employers in Atlanta and the effect that these businesses have on property values in the real estate market. All of our data used to determine the biggest employers was sourced from CareerOneStop.
1. Army National Guard
According to CareerOneStop, the Army National Guard is Atlanta’s biggest employer with nearly 20,000 employees. The Army National Guard is a little different from other military divisions in that unlike the other Armed Forces branches, it answers to both state and federal governments, depending on where they are needed most. One of the key functions of the organization is recruitment, with recruiters typically receiving salaries in the $65-100k range.
2. Emory University
Coming in at number two is Emory University. Emory University is a private research university located in Druid Hills with an academic staff consisting of 13,225 people. Given the scope of the positions available (from janitorial staff all the way up to professors and deans) at the university a wide variation in salaries exists. The University’s endowment is $11 billion.
3. Coca-Cola Refreshments
One of the more predictable entries on this list is Coca-Cola, which employs around 6,000 people in total. Not much new can be said about Coca Cola itself, which has been around since 1886. However, job-wise, a lot of production and operations positions are available.
4. Delta Air Lines Inc.
Given that the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is its largest hub, it’s no surprise that Delta finds its way onto the list of Atlanta’s biggest employers. Delta employs around 6,000 people at the airport in a variety of positions. In particular, Delta hires a lot of customer service agents, baggage handlers, and flight attendants in Atlanta.
While none of the companies on this list are recent corporate relocations, they are a decidedly good thing for Atlanta’s citizens and the economy as a whole in that they push the unemployment rate down and give people more disposable income. When the economy is sluggish, so is real estate. Conversely, when people have money to spend housing prices increase. That’s why we have seen increases in Atlanta housing prices over the past year and may continue to for the foreseeable future.
