's search for a second headquarters called "HQ2" has created a bidding frenzy over the past two months, drawing 238 proposals from across the North American region.
While it remains unclear what city Amazon will pick, analysts at Baird Equity Research believe Washington D.C. has one major edge over others: current number of job openings.
As of last Friday, Washington D.C. had 531 corporate jobs available, the most after Seattle and the San Francisco-Bay Area. If you exclude West Coast cities, and use current job openings density as an important measure for Amazon's HQ2 criteria, Washington D.C. would be a front-runner to win the bid, Baird Equity Research wrote in a note Monday.
"We view this as relevant to the HQ2 search, as Amazon might prioritize locations based on already having a sizable non-fulfillment workforce," the note said.
"With a fairly large airport hub (Dulles), geographic diversity (East Coast/Southeast), a large number of employees (in particular Amazon Web Services), and perhaps the side-benefit for Jeff Bezos given the nearby Washington Post, we would give a slight advantage to the DC metropolitan area."
D.C. has pitched four different locations for Amazon's HQ2. The city is hoping to woo Amazon with its highly educated workforce and convenient public transportation system, not to mention its proximity to government officials, who's been working more closely with Amazon as the company increased its lobbying efforts lately. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is also the owner of The Washington Post, too.
Washington D.C. has often been mentioned as one of the favorites to land Amazon's HQ2. A recent report by Thinkful, a coding bootcamp, said Washington D.C. is the most likely choice for HQ2 based on its own data analysis.
Here's the list of cities with the most number of corporate job openings, as of October 27:
- Seattle: 4,729
- San Francisco/San Jose: 889
- Washington D.C./Northern Virginia: 531
- Boston: 326
- New York City: 315
- Vancouver: 271
- Los Angeles/Riverside: 196
- Austin: 80
- Toronto: 60
- Chicago: 56
- Dallas/Ft. Worth: 54
- Sacramento: 54
- Denver: 46
- Atlanta: 34
- Portland: 27
- San Diego: 20
- Minneapolis/ St. Paul: 19
- Houston: 18
- Pittsburgh: 17
- Phoenix: 16
WATCH: The frontrunners for Amazon's new HQ
