Akron, Ohio
# Employer Employees
1 Summa Health System 5,956
2 Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital 3,840
3 Akron Children 's Hospital 3,719
4 Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company 3,000
5 County of Summit 2,874
6 Signet Jewelers 2,870
7 Akron Public Schools 2,755
8 FirstEnergy 2,468
9 The University of Akron 2,342
10 Spectrum 2,095
Economy -- Top employers
According to the City 's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report , [ 127 ] the principal employers in the city are :
Akron (/ˈækrən/) is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Cleveland. As of the 2018 Census estimate, the city proper had a total population of 198,006, making it the 119th-largest city in the United States. The Greater Akron area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had an estimated population of 703,505. The city was founded in 1825 by Simon Perkins and Paul Williams, along the Little Cuyahoga River at the summit of the developing Ohio and Erie Canal. The name is derived from the Greek word signifying a summit or high point. It was briefly renamed South Akron after Eliakim Crosby founded nearby North Akron in 1833, until both merged into an incorporated village in 1836. In the 1910s, Akron doubled in population, making it the nation's fastest-growing city. A long history of rubber and tire manufacturing, carried on today by Goodyear Tire, gave Akron the nickname Rubber Capital of the World. It was once known as a center of airship development. Today, its economy includes manufacturing, education, healthcare, and biomedical research; leading corporations include Gojo Industries, FirstEnergy, Huntington Bank, and Charter Spectrum. Notable historic events in Akron include the passage of the Akron School Law of 1847, which created the K-12 system; the popularization of the church architectural Akron Plan, the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous, the Akron Experiment into preventing goiters with iodized salt, the 1983 Supreme Court case City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health; and portions of the 2014 Gay Games.