About the rankings

For the rankings, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey more than 170,000 U.S. workers at American companies. Organizations with 1,000 to 5,000 workers were considered midsize employers, and those with more than 5,000 workers were considered large employers.

In the survey, respondents were asked to rate their employers and if they would recommend their employer to other people. Evaluations from current and former employees were given more weight than those from friends, family, and peers in the industry. Forbes and Statista also included data from the last three years — with more recent data having greater weight — to identify companies that have been consistently rated well over the years.

Survey responses were used to create a score for each company, and the 1,000 organizations with the highest scores made the final lists. In total, there were 600 organizations on the "America's Best Large Employers" list, and 400 on the "America's Best Midsize Employers" list.

Healthcare employers across several categories, including drugs and biotechnology, healthcare equipment and services, healthcare and social services, and insurance, were included on the lists.

The best large healthcare employers

Overall, 35 organizations — including 23 Advisory Board members — made the list of the best large healthcare and social services employers, including:

3. Cook Children's Health Care System* (Fort Worth, TX)

4. Children's Hospital Colorado (Aurora, CO)

7. Houston Methodist (Houston, TX)

9. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, TN)

10. The University of Kansas Health System* (Kansas City, KS)

25. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta* (Atlanta, GA)

34. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital* (New York, NY)

36. Community Health Network* (Indianapolis, IN)

38. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY)

42. Nationwide Children's Hospital* (Columbus, OH)

44. Mayo Clinic* (Rochester, MN)

51. UC Davis Health (Sacramento, CA)

53. Cedars-Sinai Health System* (Los Angeles, CA)

60. Roper St. Francis (Charleston, SC)

63. MD Anderson Cancer Center* (Houston, TX)

66. Boston Medical Center* (Boston, MA)

70. Baptist Health South Florida* (Coral Gables, FL)

71. Cincinnati Children's (Cincinnati, OH)

83. Tampa General Hospital* (Tampa, FL)

84. Main Line Health* (Bryn Mawr, PA)

96. UCLA Health* (Los Angeles, CA)

99. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute* (Boston, MA)

107. Sarasota Memorial Hospital* (Sarasota, FL)

115. Cleveland Clinic Foundation* (Cleveland, OH)

117. University of Virginia Health System* (Charlottesville, VA)

124. Norton Healthcare (Louisville, KY)

139. Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center* (Columbus, OH)

141. Saint Francis Health System* (Tulsa, OK)

147. Interim HealthCare (Sunrise, FL)

151. Amedisys (Baton Rouge, LA)

152. University of Utah Health Care* (Salt Lake City, UT)

155. Texas Health Resources* (Arlington, TX)

158. Boston Children's Hospital (Boston, MA)

159. Gundersen Health System* (La Crosse, WI)

161. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia* (Philadelphia, PA)

In addition, 19 drugs and biotechnology companies, 17 healthcare equipment and services companies, and 13 health insurance made the best large employers list. In total, 17 Advisory Board members were recognized across the categories.

Drugs & biotechnology:

1. Novo Nordisk (Princeton, NJ)

15. Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA)

86. Takeda Pharmaceutical (Lincolnshire, IL)

173. Johnson & Johnson* (New Brunswick, NJ)

176. Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA)

181. Sanofi (Bridgewater, NJ)

203. Roche Holding (Indianapolis, IN)

207. Bristol Myers Squibb* (New York, NY)

208. Merck & Co. (West Point, PA)

216. Pfizer* (New York, NY)

287. GSK (Philadelphia, PA)

301. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Tarrytown, NY)

366. AbbVie* (North Chicago, IL)

376. Bayer (Whippany, NJ)

381. Genentech* (South San Francisco, CA)

408. Boehringer Ingelheim* (Ridgefield, CT)

449. Lilly* (Indianapolis, IN)

513. Charles River Labs (Wilmington, MA)

595. CSL (King of Prussia, PA)

Healthcare equipment & services:

98. Stryker* (Kalamazoo, MI)

110. Teladoc Health (Purchase, NY)

217. Cardinal Health* (Dublin, OH)

225. Medline Industries* (Mundelein, IL)

230. Medtronic* (Minneapolis, MN)

246. Boston Scientific* (Marlborough, MA)

360. Patterson (St. Paul, MN)

385. Edwards Lifesciences* (Irvine, CA)

389. McKesson (Irving, TX)

415. Agilent Technologies (Santa Clara, CA)

435. Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL)

461. Zimmer Biomet* (Warsaw, IN)

464. IDEXX Laboratories (Westbrook, ME)

466. Bausch Health Companies (Bridgewater, NJ)

517. Labcorp (Burlington, NC)

536. Essilor of America (Dallas, TX)

572. Becton Dickinson (Franklin Lakes, NJ)

Health insurance:

11. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (Chattanooga, TN)

80. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (Durham, NC)

90. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Newark, NJ)

131. Florida Blue* (Jacksonville, FL)

184. Cambia Health Solutions* (Portland, OR)

270. Humana* (Louisville, KY)

327. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan (Detroit, MI)

375. UnitedHealthGroup** (Minnetonka, MN)

395. Health Care Service Corporation (Chicago, IL)

434. CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield* (Baltimore, MD)

477. Cigna* (Philadelphia, PA)

512. Blue Shield of California (San Francisco, CA)

568. Chubb (Warren, NJ)

*Denotes Advisory Board member

**Advisory Board is a subsidiary of Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group. All Advisory Board research, expert perspectives, and recommendations remain independent.

The best midsize healthcare employers

Overall, 35 organizations — including seven Advisory Board members — made the list of the best midsize healthcare and social services employers, including:

3. Alzheimer's Association* (Chicago, IL)

5. Jupiter Medical Center (Jupiter, FL)

12. Shriners Hospitals for Children (Tampa, FL)

17. Pikeville Medical Center (Pikeville, KY)

19. Vizient (Irving, TX)

22. Hendricks Regional Health (Danville, IN)

25. Oklahoma Heart Hospital (Oklahoma City, OK)

27. Boys Town (Omaha, NE)

31. AARP (Washington, D.C.)

40. Woman's Hospital (Baton Rouge, LA)

45. Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute* (Fort Myers, FL)

46. Boone Hospital Center (Boone, IA)

47. Kennedy Krieger Institute (Baltimore, MD)

63. Absolute Health Services (Canton, OH)

66. Carenet Health (San Antonio, TX)

69. University of Tennessee Medical Center* (Knoxville, TN)

94. NCH Healthcare (Naples, FL)

108. Stanford Children's Health (Palo Alto, CA)

123. Concord Hospital (Concord, NH)

138. Bellin Health* (Green Bay, WI)

144. Mercy Medical Center (Baltimore, MD)

146. Eisenhower Medical Center* (Rancho Mirage, CA)

149. Stillwater Medical Center (Stillwater, OK)

150. MaineGeneral Health (Augusta, ME)

155. Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters (Norfolk, VA)

158. Silver Cross Hospital (New Lenox, IL)

169. Resources for Human Development (Philadelphia, PA)

173. American Family Care (Birmingham, AL)

174. Evangelical Community Hospital* (Lewisburg, PA)

182. Southwest General Health Center* (Middleburg Heights, OH)

183. Lake Regional Health System (Osage Beach, MO)

184. Children's Nebraska (Omaha, NE)

185. Glens Falls Hospital (Glens Fall, NY)

186. Alabama Department of Public Health (Montgomery, AL)

196. AHRC New York City (New York, NY)

In addition, six drugs and biotechnology companies, 11 healthcare equipment and services companies, and 14 health insurance made the best midsize employers list. In total, six Advisory Board members were recognized across the categories.

Drugs & biotechnology:

73. Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME)

147. Argonne National Laboratory (Lemont, IL)

199. Bio-Rad Laboratories (Hercules, CA)

211. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Boston, MA)

273. Mallinckrodt (Bedminster, NJ)

301. Bio-Techne (Minneapolis, MN)

Healthcare equipment & services:

23. Dexcom (San Diego, CA)

38. Teleflex* (Wayne, PA)

49. Hologic* (Marlborough, MA)

80. Datavant (San Francisco, CA)

102. Align Technology (Santa Clara, CA)

208. Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (Chicago, IL)

216. CareCentrix* (Hartford, CT)

335. Beltone (Chicago, IL)

338. Opko Health (Miami, FL)

355. ABB Optical Group (Kansas City, MO)

391. NextGen Healthcare (Atlanta, GA)

Health insurance:

8. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (Rochester, NY)

88. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska (Omaha, NE)

96. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota

109. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield* (Des Moines, IL)

110. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama (Birmingham, AL)

152. Premera Blue Cross (Mountlake Terrace, WA)

153. Capital Blue Cross (Harrisburg, PA)

163. Medical Mutual of Ohio* (Cleveland, OH)

166. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Little Rock, AR)

190. Healthfirst (New York, NY)

222. Medica* (Minnetonka, MN)

278. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Topeka, KS)

366. Oscar Health (New York, NY)

381. WPS Health Solutions* (Monona, WI)

(Peachman, Forbes, 2/13 [1]; Peachman, Forbes, 2/13 [2]) 

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