Minnesota is home to a number of innovative companies, whether it be sandpaper, medical devices, flour processors or retailers. Throughout it’s history, Minnesota has attracted a great number of business innovators and businesses from around the country.

That said, Minnesota continually ranks at the top of the Fortune 500 list as being the home to the largest companies in the U.S.. The following is a ranking of States with the largest number of Fortune 500 companies:

States with Most Number of Fortune 500 Companies

2011 Rank State # on 2011 List # on 2010 List 2010 Rank
1 New York 57 56 3
2 California 53 57 1
3 Texas 51 57 2
4 Illinois 31 31 4
5 Ohio 27 23 6
6 Pennsylvania 23 25 5
7 Michigan 22 18 9
8 Minnesota 20 21 7
9 New Jersey 20 18 10
10 Virginia 20 20 8
11 Florida 16 16 11
12 North Carolina 15 14 12
13 Georgia 14 14 13
14 Massachusetts 13 13 14
15 Connecticut 12 11 15
16 Missouri 10 11 16
17 Colorado 9 8 18
18 Wisconsin 9 10 17
19 Tennessee 8 8 19
20 Washington 8 7 20
21 Arizona 7 5 23
22 Indiana 5 5 24
23 Kentucky 5 6 21
24 Maryland 5 6 22
25 Nebraska 5 5 25
26 Arkansas 4 4 26
27 District of Columbia 4 4 27
28 Oklahoma 4 4 28
29 Kansas 3 2 33
30 Louisiana 3 3 29
31 Nevada 3 3 30
32 South Carolina 3 3 31
33 Delaware 2 1 36
34 Iowa 2 3 32
35 Oregon 2 2 34
36 Rhode Island 2 2 35
37 Alabama 1 1 37
38 Idaho 1 1 38
39 Utah 1 1 39
40 Alaska 0 0 41
41 Hawaii 0 0 42
42 Maine 0 0 43
43 Mississippi 0 0 44
44 Montana 0 0 45
45 New Hampshire 0 0 46
46 New Mexico 0 0 47
47 North Dakota 0 1 40
48 South Dakota 0 0 48
49 Vermont 0 0 49
50 West Virginia 0 0 50
51 Wyoming 0 0 51

Source: 2011 Minnesota Fortune 500 Companies