Many well-known U.S. corporations make St. Louis their home. Beer commercials have made the city well known as the home of Anheuser-Busch Breweries. Two local brokerages, A.G. Edwards and Edward Jones, as well as online brokerage Scottrade, have grown into dominant players on America's financial landscape. It is also the site for the headquarters of Energizer, the battery company. Neighboring suburbs host Monsanto, formerly a chemical company and now a leader in genetically modified crops, and Solutia, the former Monsanto chemical division that was spun off as a separate company in 1997.
The St. Louis region has also built up a formidable health care industry. This is dominated by BJC HealthCare, the city's largest employer, which operates Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital, plus eleven others. BJC benefits from a symbiotic relationship with Washington University School of Medicine, which is a major center of medical research. Other major employers in the area include Boeing International Defense Systems, Scott Air Force Base, Washington University in St. Louis, and Wal-Mart.
As of the 2000 census, the median household income in the city was $29,156. The unemployment rate was 6.3% in 2005.
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