Forbes magazine, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and other business and career sites run annual lists of the best places to work in the United States. But the lists often disagree. To find a consensus, I’ve compiled the most prominent lists and ranks into the master list that you’ll find below.
The king of employee happiness is Google, which ranks #1 on lists from Business Insider, LinkedIn and Great Place to Work, #2 on the list from Forbes magazine, #4 on job site Glassdoor, and #31 on job site Indeed.
Apple holds second place, followed by Microsoft and Intuit. Apparently, big tech firms know how to keep employees satisfied; after the top four companies come Salesforce.com (#6), Facebook (#7), Adobe (#10), Cisco (#14), and Texas Instruments (#15).
Among America’s biggest employers — each with well over 100,000 workers — the highest ranking goes to Johnson & Johnson, at #5. Other big employers with high rankings are Costco Wholesale (#8), Starbucks (#25), and Marriott International (#35).
The largest employers in the United States that didn’t make any of the lists are the three biggest ones: Walmart, Yum! Brands, and McDonald’s, with more than three million presumably unhappy employees among them. (The employment numbers come from StatisticBrain (http://www.statisticbrain.com/u-s-largest-employers/), based on Department of Labor data.)
To make the master list, I selected the companies that appeared on the most lists, then ordered them by rank. That is, the ones that appeared near the top of the most lists appear at the top of this master list. The sources are at the end of this post.
The sources all differed from each other. The Forbes list ranked 500 companies, while LinkedIn included only 40. And each list used different criteria, which sometimes resulted in wild diversity. Bain and Company, for instance, ranked #1 on Glassdoor, #301 on Forbes, and nowhere on any other list.
So if a company scored high on almost all of the lists — that’s you, Google! — it’s probably pleasing almost all of its employees.
And now, the winners.
1. Google
1 on Business Insider, 1 on LinkedIn, 1 on Great Place to Work, 2 on Forbes, 4 on Glassdoor, 31 on Indeed
2. Apple
4 on LinkedIn, 10 on Indeed, 31 on Career Bliss, 36 on Glassdoor, 37 on Forbes, 44 on Business Insider
3. Microsoft
7 on LinkedIn, 9 on Business Insider, 36 on Career Bliss, 37 on Glassdoor, 41 on Indeed, 109 on Forbes
4. Intuit
20 on Glassdoor, 34 on Great Place to Work, 35 on Career Bliss, 35 on Forbes, 46 on Indeed
5. Johnson & Johnson
6 on Business Insider, 15 on Career Bliss, 24 on Indeed, 26 on Glassdoor, 153 on Forbes
6. Salesforce.com
2 on LinkedIn, 17 on Glassdoor, 23 on Great Place to Work, 27 on Business Insider, 225 on Forbes
7. Facebook
2 on Glassdoor, 3 on LinkedIn, 5 on Business Insider, 11 on Forbes
8. Costco
3 on Forbes, 5 on Indeed, 34 on Glassdoor, 32 on Career Bliss
9. Wegmans Food Markets
4 on Forbes, 4 on Great Place to Work, 18 on Indeed, 50 on Glassdoor
10. Adobe
6 on Career Bliss, 9 on Glassdoor, 14 on LinkedIn, 87 on Great Place to Work
11. Mayo Clinic
9 on Forbes, 29 on Indeed, 44 on Glassdoor, 86 on Great Place to Work
12. Chevron
8 on Business Insider, 9 on Career Bliss, 45 on Indeed, 156 on Forbes
13. QuikTrip
20 on Indeed, 48 on Glassdoor, 76 on Great Place to Work, 81 on Forbes
14. Cisco
16 on Business Insider, 38 on LinkedIn, 82 on Great Place to Work, 220 on Forbes
15. Texas Instruments
30 on Career Bliss, 36 on Business Insider, 42 on Glassdoor, 339 on Forbes
16. American Express
14 on Business Insider, 35 on Indeed, 96 on Great Place to Work, 369 on Forbes
17. Keller Williams Realty
3 on Career Bliss, 3 on Indeed, 31 on Glassdoor
18. Southwest Airlines
7 on Indeed, 13 on Forbes, 28 on Glassdoor
19. In-N-Out Burger
2 on Indeed, 7 on Glassdoor, 68 on Forbes
20. Pfizer
13 on Business Insider, 26 on Career Bliss, 37 on Indeed, 76
21. Publix Super Markets
12 on Indeed, 17 on Forbes, 67 on Great Place to Work
22. H E B Grocery Stores
13 on Indeed, 27 on Glassdoor, 57 on Forbes
23. Trader Joe’s
20 on Forbes, 33 on Glassdoor, 47 on Indeed
24. Genentech
11 on Great Place to Work, 32 on Glassdoor, 65 on Forbes
25. Starbucks
23 on Indeed, 31 on LinkedIn, 80 on Forbes
26. IKEA
45 on Glassdoor, 62 on Forbes, 63 on Great Place to Work
27. Intel
22 on Business Insider, 38 on Indeed, 115 on Forbes
28. Nike
8 on Indeed, 13 on Career Bliss, 160 on Forbes
29. McKinsey & Company
11 on Glassdoor, 23 on LinkedIn, 152 on Forbes
30. Boston Consulting Group
3 on Glassdoor, 3 on Great Place to Work, 186 on Forbes
31. Delta Air Lines
19 on Indeed, 21 on Glassdoor, 161 on Forbes
32. Bristol-Myers Squibb
1 on Career Bliss, 2 on Business Insider, 198 on Forbes
33. Stryker Corporation
12 on LinkedIn, 21 on Great Place to Work, 193 on Forbes
34. Nordstrom
27 on Career Bliss, 92 on Great Place to Work, 124 on Forbes
35. Marriott International
50 on Indeed, 83 on Great Place to Work, 117 on Forbes
36. ConocoPhillips
15 on Business Insider, 49 on Indeed, 173 on Forbes
37. Quicken Loans
5 on Great Place to Work, 19 on Career Bliss, 274 on Forbes
38. SAP
15 on Glassdoor, 23 on Career Bliss, 297 on Forbes
39. Abbott Laboratories
42 on Business Insider, 48 on Indeed, 318 on Forbes
40. Goldman Sachs
27 on LinkedIn, 51 on Great Place to Work, 352 on Forbes
41. Visa
4 on Career Bliss, 13 on LinkedIn, 428 on Forbes
42. Deloitte
24 on LinkedIn, 90 on Great Place to Work, 353 on Forbes
43. Amgen
2 on Career Bliss, 12 on Business Insider, 463 on Forbes
44. RE/MAX International
12 on Career Bliss, 16 on Indeed
45. World Wide Technology
5 on Glassdoor, 38 on Great Place to Work
46. Airbnb
10 on LinkedIn, 35 on Glassdoor
47. Workday
15 on LinkedIn, 31 on Great Place to Work
48. JetBlue Airways
8 on Forbes, 44 on Indeed
49. W.L. Gore & Associates
12 on Great Place to Work, 43 on Forbes
50. USAA
20 on Business Insider, 36 on Great Place to Work
51. The Walt Disney Company
11 on Indeed, 58 on Forbes
52. Power Home Remodeling
10 on Glassdoor, 59 on Great Place to Work
53. Build-A-Bear Workshop
32 on Indeed, 45 on Great Place to Work
54. 3M
30 on Business Insider, 51 on Forbes
55. Morgan Stanley
40 on LinkedIn, 45 on Career Bliss
56. Hyatt Hotels
49 on Forbes, 47 on Great Place to Work
57. Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts
26 on Indeed, 70 on Great Place to Work
58. Atlantic Health System
25 on Forbes, 79 on Great Place to Work
59. Kaiser Permanente
9 on Indeed, 96 on Forbes
60. Ford
37 on Business Insider, 69 on Forbes
61. Roche
41 on Forbes, 73 on Great Place to Work
62. BASF
41 on Glassdoor, 84 on Forbes
63. Rackspace US
44 on Career Bliss, 104 on Forbes
64. LinkedIn
8 on Glassdoor, 148 on Forbes
65. Whole Foods Market
75 on Great Place to Work, 82 on Forbes
66. AbbVie
33 on Business Insider, 126 on Forbes
67. Prudential
10 on Career Bliss, 151 on Forbes
68. Edward Jones
10 on Great Place to Work, 155 on Forbes
69. Qualcomm
41 on Career Bliss, 127 on Forbes
70. Novartis
43 on Career Bliss, 129 on Forbes
71. Duke Energy
32 on Business Insider, 141 on Forbes
72. Kimberly-Clark
29 on Business Insider, 147 on Forbes
73. Boeing
39 on Indeed, 142 on Forbes
74. Navy Federal Credit Union
44 on Great Place to Work, 143 on Forbes
75. Coldwell Banker
22 on Indeed, 166 on Forbes
76. DuPont
28 on Business Insider, 176 on Forbes
77. Southern Company
4 on Business Insider, 211 on Forbes
78. Procter & Gamble
40 on Business Insider, 178 on Forbes
79. Hilton
56 on Great Place to Work, 174 on Forbes
80. PayPal
33 on Career Bliss, 205 on Forbes
81. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
1 on Indeed, 261 on Forbes
82. Expedia
17 on Business Insider, 254 on Forbes
83. St. Jude Medical
39 on Business Insider, 235 on Forbes
84. NRG Energy
49 on Business Insider, 242 on Forbes
85. Metropolitan Life Insurance
21 on Career Bliss, 277 on Forbes
86. Toyota
42 on Career Bliss, 257 on Forbes
87. Bain & Company
1 on Glassdoor, 301 on Forbes
88. Texas Roadhouse
43 on Indeed, 260 on Forbes
89. PricewaterhouseCoopers
53 on Great Place to Work, 256 on Forbes
90. NextEra Energy
47 on Business Insider, 262 on Forbes
91. VMware
20 on Career Bliss, 290 on Forbes
92. CH2M
35 on Business Insider, 288 on Forbes
93. Epsilon
21 on LinkedIn, 306 on Forbes
94. Ernst & Young
49 on Great Place to Work, 287 on Forbes
95. NVIDIA
30 on Glassdoor, 314 on Forbes
96. TIAA-CREF
19 on Business Insider, 329 on Forbes
97. Chubb
26 on Business Insider, 325 on Forbes
98. Coca-Cola
20 on LinkedIn, 334 on Forbes
99. Western Union
25 on Career Bliss, 340 on Forbes, 355
100. Gilead Sciences
31 on Business Insider, 327 on Forbes
Sources:
http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/rankings/2016-fortune-100-best-companies-to-work-for-list
http://www.businessinsider.com/payscale-best-companies-to-work-for-in-america-2016-4/
http://www.forbes.com/best-employers/list/12/#tab:rank
https://lists.linkedin.com/2016/top-attractors/en/us
https://www.careerbliss.com/facts-and-figures/careerbliss-50-happiest-companies-in-america-for-2017/
https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/Best-Places-to-Work-LST_KQ0,19.htm
https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/Best-Small-and-Medium-Companies-to-Work-For-LST_KQ0,43.htm
https://www.indeed.com/Best-Places-to-Work