Business & Tech

100 California Employers Among 'Best' In America For 2017: Forbes List

Forbes has released its annual rankings of both best large and mid-sized employers in America, and 100 are in California.

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Forbes has the verdict out on which companies are the best in the nation to work for, and included among them are 100 employers with headquarters in California. Sixty-seven California companies were named among the top 500 large employers in the nation, while 33 were named among the top 301 midsized employers. Are you lucky enough to work for one of them? (see lists below)

California's top large company is Google, which came in at number 2 nationally. The Silicon Valley company employs more than 61,000 people. The state's top mid-sized company is Esri – which came in number 11 nationally – a geographical information systems software company in Redlands that employs 10,000.

Nationally, it was Costco, the wholesale retailer, that claimed the top spot on Forbes' large employers list. As Forbes notes, the company has not fallen below third place over the past three years and a big perk offered by the company is health insurance for part-time employees.

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In third place is Recreational Equipment Inc., or REI, marking the first appearance for the company on Forbes' list. And its place on the list is likely to do with the company's unique ownership structure. As explained in Forbes, REI is a consumer cooperative, and anyone who pays the one-time $20 membership fee and spends at least $10 a year receives an annual dividend.

Costco, Google and REI rank at the top on Forbes' list of 500 best large employers. To compile the rankings, Forbes split employers into two groups, midsized — companies with 1,000 to 5,000 employees — and large employers — companies with 5,000 or more employees.

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Topping the list of America's best midsized employers was Lush, the indulgent retail cosmetics brand. Though the company is headquartered in the United Kingdom, it operates 200 locations in the United States.

"According to respondents, Lush employees were most taken with the company’s image, its diversity, and to a lesser extent its working conditions," says Forbes.

To compile the rankings, Forbes worked with research firm Statista. The firm surveyed 30,000 American workers to collect opinions on the companies they work for. The most important factor in determining the rankings were how likely employers were to recommend their company to friends and family. Employees were also asked to recommend other companies, which also factored into the rankings, but to a lesser degree.

According to Forbes, America's best large employers are:

  1. Costco Wholesale, based in Issaquah, Washington
  2. Google, based in Mountain View, California
  3. REI, based in Kent, Washington
  4. Memorial Hermann Health System, based in Houston, Texas
  5. United Service Automobile Association, based in San Antonio Texas
  6. MD Anderson Cancer Center, based in Houston, Texas
  7. Penn Medicine, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  8. Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minnesota
  9. City of Austin, Austin, Texas
  10. Wegmans Food Markets, based in Rochester, New York

>>>See the full list here.

The California companies that made the list of best large employers (along with their national ranking) are:

As for midsized employers, Forbes says America's best are:

  1. LUSH
  2. Rackspace Hosting, based in San Antonio, Texas
  3. New Seasons Market, based in Portland, Oregon
  4. Celgene, based in Summit, New Jersey
  5. National Credit Union Administration, based in Alexandria, Virginia
  6. Slalom Consulting, based in Stamford, Connecticut
  7. Gartner, based in Seattle, Washington
  8. Georgetown University, based in Washington D.C.
  9. CDM Smith, based in Boston, Massachusetts
  10. JM Family Enterprises, based in Deerfield Beach, Florida

>>>See the full list here.

The California companies that made the list of best midsized employers include:

Did your employer make the list? Let us know in the comments below.

Feroze Dhanoa (Patch National Staff) contributed to this report / Image via Shutterstock

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