49 Illinois Companies Ranked Among Forbes’ Best Employers

ILLINOIS — Workers gave high marks to a handful of companies headquartered in Illinois in a survey for Forbes’ annual lists of America’s Best Large Employers and America’s Best Midsize Employers.

Illinois-based companies in the top 100 on Forbes’ large employers list include:

• Packaging Corp. of America, Ranked No. 127, Engineering/Manufacturing, 15,100 employees. Based in Lake Forest.
• Boeing, Ranked No. 175, Aerospace & Defense, 156,000 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Hyatt Hotels, Ranked No. 182; Travel & Leisure, 50,000 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Levy, Ranked No. 193, Restaurants, 10,001 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Caterpillar, Ranked No. 215, Engineering/Manufacturing, 109,100 employees. Based in Deerfield.
• University of Chicago, Ranked No. 223, Education, 10,000 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Zurich North American, Ranked No. 224, Insurance, 9,000 employees. Based in Schaumburg.
• Medline Industries, Ranked No. 225, Health Care Equipment & Services, 30,000 employees. Based in Northfield.
• Rush University, Ranked No. 251, Education. Based in Chicago.
• ALDI, Ranked No. 255, Retail and Wholesale, 25,000 employees. Based in Batavia.
• Grainger, Ranked No. 257, Retail and Wholesale, 26,000 employees. Based in Lake Forest.
• CNH Industrial, Ranked No. 262, Automotive, 40,070 employees.
• Discover Financial Services, Ranked No. 280, Banking and Financial Services, 20,200 employees. Based in Riverwoods.
• State Farm, Ranked No. 331, Insurance, 61,764 employees. Based in Bloomington.
• John Deere, Ranked No. 332, Automotive, 75,600 employees. Based in Moline.
• AbbVie, Ranked No. 366, Drugs & Biotechnology, 50,000 employees. Based in North Chicago.
• CNA Financial, Ranked No. 380, Insurance, 6,100 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Cushman & Wakefield, Ranked No. 383, Business Services & Supplies, 50,000 employees.
• Ace Hardware, Ranked No. 392, Retail and Wholesale, 12,500 employees. Based in Oak Brook.
• Health Care Service Corporation, Ranked No. 395, Insurance, 24,000 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Sp Plus, Ranked No, 398, Business Services & Supplies, 19,000 employees. Based in Chicago.
• RSM US, Ranked No. 422, Professional Services, 13,000 employees. Based in Chicago.
• CDW, Ranked No. 424, IT Software & Services, 12,250 employees. Based in Vernon Hills.
• Abbott Laboratories, Ranked No. 435, Health Care Equipment & Services, 33,900 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Exelon, Ranked No. 436, Utilities, 38,494 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Allstate, Ranked No. 450, Insurance, 54,700 employees. Based in Northbrook.
• JLL, Ranked No. 453, Business Services & Supplies, 103,300 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Kehe Distributors, Ranked No. 462, Transportation and Logistics, 5,500 employees. Based in Naperville.
• Brunswick, Ranked No. 476, Engineering/Manufacturing, 19,000 employees. Based in Lake Forest.
• Crate & Barrel, Ranked No. 484, Retail and Wholesale, 7,500 employees. Based in Northbrook.
• Baker Tilly US, Ranked No. 487, Professional Services, 6,500 employees. Based in Chicago.
• United Airlines, Ranked No. 499, Transportation and Logistics, 84,100 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Great Wolf Resorts, Ranked No. 510, Travel & Leisure, 10,000 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Paylocity, Ranked No. 531, IT Software & Services, 5,300 employees. Based in Arlington Heights.
• BDO USA, Ranked No. 553, Professional Services, 9,647 employees. Based in Chicago.
• HUB International, Ranked No. 578, Insurance, 17,000 employees. Based in Chicago.
• Treehouse Foods, Ranked No. 596, Food, Soft Beverages, Alcohol & Tobacco, 6,100 employees. Based in Oak Brook.

Illinois-based companies in the top 100 on Forbes’ midsize employers list include:

• Alzheimer's Association, Ranked No. 3, Healthcare and Social Services. Based in Chicago.
• Harper College, Ranked No. 64, Education. Based in Palatine.
• Alpha Baking Company, Ranked No. 65, Food, Soft Beverages, Alcohol & Tobacco. Based in Chicago.
• Illinois Institute of Technology, Ranked No, 72. Based in Chicago.
• Komatsu, Ranked No. 105, Engineering/Manufacturing.
• Argonne National Laboratory, Ranked No. 147. Based in Lemont.
• Silver Cross Hospital, Ranked No. 158. Based in New Lenox.
• Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Ranked No. 208, Health Care Equipment & Services. Based in Chicago.
• Ryerson, Ranked No. 251, Engineering/Manufacturing. Based in Chicago.
• Zebra Technologies, Ranked No. 288, Semiconductors, Electronics, Electrical Engineering. Based in Lincolnshire.
• Beltone, Ranked No. 335, Health Care Equipment & Services. Based in Chicago.
• Fellowes Brands, Ranked No. 385, Business Services & Supplies. Based in Itasca.

The ranking, produced with the market research firm Statista, is based on surveys of employees at U.S. companies. Companies with 1,000-5,000 workers were categorized as midsize companies, and those with more than 5,000 were categorized as large employers.

Responses were given by current employees who had worked for the company within the past two years, and individuals familiar with the company through friends, family or industry peers.

Greater weight was given to the evaluations from current and former employees, Forbes said. This year, data from the past three surveys was included and weighted more heavily to identify companies that have received high rankings consistently over time.

Tech industry giants Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and Meta are among at least 139 companies that have collectively laid off more than 34,000 workers so far in 2024, yet those companies all found a place on the best large employers list, Forbes said.

Nationally, the Top 10 large employers on Forbes’ list are:

1. Novo Nordisk, a New Jersey-based drugs and biotechnology company employing 55,000 people;
2. Garmin, a Kansas-based semiconductor, electronics and electrical engineering company employing 19,000 people;
3. Cook Children’s Healthcare System, a Texas-based health care and social services system employing 9,000 people.
4. Children’s Hospital Colorado, a health care and social services system employing 8,000 people;
5. Delta Air Lines, a Georgia-based transportation and logistics company employing 95,000 people;
6. In-N-Out Burger, a California-based quick, fast, casual chain employing 39,000 people;
7. Houston Methodist, a Texas-based health care and social services system employing 29,730 people;
8. eXp Realty, a Washington-based business services and supplies company employing 8,800 people;
9. St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, a Tennessee-based health care and social services system employing 5,001 people;
10. The University of Kansas Health System, a health care and social services system employing 15,000 people.

In the midsize category, the top 10 companies in the United States are:

1. California State University, Los Angeles (education);
2. Edgewell Personal Care, based in Connecticut (packaged goods);
3. Alzheimer’s Association, based in Illinois (health care and social services);
4. Businessolver, based in Iowa (IT software and services);
5. Jupiter Medical System, based in Florida (health care and social services);
6. City Tech, CUNY, based in New York (education);
7. Caltech, based in California (education);
8. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, based in New York (insurance)
9. Utz Quality Foods, based in Pennsylvania (food, soft beverages, alcohol and tobacco);
10. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, based n Washington, D.C. (government services).