A Driving Force

In Atlanta and across Georgia, Emory's economic impact revs up business, employment, and innovation


Emory provides $9.1 billion in economic impact in the Atlanta region and Georgia, while supporting nearly sixty-four thousand jobs and generating $200 million in state tax revenues, according to an impact study released in June.

The university’s role as an economic engine and community partner is outlined in an in-depth overview of Emory’s investment in the region’s economic health and well-being, community engagement, academic excellence, research, and innovation—a look at the “immeasurable ways that Emory strives to serve humanity, beginning in Atlanta and extending through the state, region, nation, and world,” according to President Claire E. Sterk.

Sterk is an advocate for closer ties and partnerships statewide, including the immediate campus vicinity and city of Atlanta. She noted that $4.4 billion of the reported economic impact occurs within the city and the Druid Hills campus. Emory has thirty thousand employees, making the university the largest employer in DeKalb County. The university’s overall impact from capital investments in Georgia translates to $330 million annually, with more than $685 million in direct capital investments in the past four years.

In addition, Emory Healthcare is the most comprehensive health care system in Georgia and a leading academic health center nationally. Last year, Emory Healthcare served more than six hundred thousand patients. The Woodruff Health Sciences Center provided $400 million in overall community benefits, including $72 million in charity care by Emory Healthcare in 2016. “Emory will continue to build on this substantial commitment to the teaching, research, health care, and service that makes such a difference in so many people’s lives,” Sterk says.

Email the Editor

Share This Story