Summary
Let's take a look at which companies topped the list of largest employers in the country.
Key statistics
- Walmart Inc. is the largest company in the U.S. by number of employees with 1.6 million workers nationwide, and a total of 2.1 million employees globally.
- Amazon comes second on the list with 1.1 million employees in the U.S., followed by UPS with 443,000 U.S.-based workers, and Target with 427,346.
- Albertsons Companies Inc is the largest employer in a single state with 270,000 employees in Idaho alone.
- The top 10 biggest U.S. companies employ approximately 5.75 million people nationwide.
- Walmart is the biggest employer in Texas with 11% of U.S-based Walmart employees working in Texas (176,898 workers in total).
- Amazon is the biggest employer in California with 162,000 workers in this state; they make up 15% of all of Amazon's U.S. employees.
- The U.S. federal government employs around 3 million people in total, with workers in departments like the Armed Forces, Postal Service, and the Department of Justice.
- State and local governments employ 19.6 million people nationally, with the majority (14.2 million) working in local government.
Top 50 companies with the most employees in the U.S.
Aside from the United States government, the largest employer in the U.S. is Walmart which employs a huge 1.6 million workers nationwide. Amazon follows this with 1.1 million U.S. employees, more than double UPS which is the third largest employer (443,000 employees).
Other prominent companies with the most employees in the U.S. include Starbucks with 228,238 employees (#16), the Walt Disney Company with 147,000 employees (#25), and Microsoft with 127,432 employees (#31).
| Rank | Company Name | Employees in the U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart Inc. | 1,600,000 |
| 2 | Amazon.com, Inc. | 1,100,000 |
| 3 | United Parcel Service, Inc. | 443,000 |
| 4 | Target Corporation | 427,346 |
| 5 | The Home Depot, Inc. | 418,900 |
| 6 | The Kroger Co. | 418,800 |
| 7 | FedEx Corporation | 412,954 |
| 8 | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. | 322,736 |
| 9 | Lowe's Companies, Inc. | 309,659 |
| 10 | CVS Health Corporation | 301,160 |
| 11 | Albertsons Companies, Inc. | 285,000 |
| 12 | HCA Healthcare, Inc. | 282,695 |
| 13 | The TJX Companies, Inc. | 261,292 |
| 14 | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated | 261,061 |
| 15 | Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. | 243,184 |
| 16 | Starbucks Corporation | 228,238 |
| 17 | Costco Wholesale Corporation | 208,000 |
| 18 | Rich Square Logistics LLC | 200,000 |
| 19 | Wells Fargo & Company | 196,262 |
| 20 | Dollar Tree, Inc. | 189,347 |
| 21 | Darden Restaurants, Inc. | 188,106 |
| 22 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 175,948 |
| 23 | Dollar General Corporation | 170,000 |
| 24 | Bank of America Corporation | 167,222 |
| 25 | The Walt Disney Company | 147,000 |
| 26 | Aramark | 142,660 |
| 27 | AT&T Inc. | 133,895 |
| 28 | The Boeing Company | 130,885 |
| 29 | PepsiCo, Inc. | 130,125 |
| 30 | Comcast Corporation | 129,247 |
| 31 | Microsoft Corporation | 127,432 |
| 32 | RTX Corporation | 122,749 |
| 33 | Tyson Foods, Inc. | 120,000 |
| 34 | Alphabet Inc. | 116,941 |
| 35 | American Airlines Group Inc. | 116,684 |
| 36 | Marriott International, Inc. | 111,746 |
| 37 | Apple Inc. | 101,379 |
| 38 | CCO Holdings Capital Corp | 96,100 |
| 39 | Buck Holdings LP (Dollar Tree) | 90,000 |
| 40 | General Motors Company | 87,849 |
| 41 | Kentucky Homecare Holdings Inc | 85,300 |
| 42 | Ford Motor Company | 84,086 |
| 43 | Citigroup Inc. | 75,332 |
| 44 | Oracle Corporation | 63,000 |
| 45 | ADP Atlantic LLC | 54,000 |
| 46 | McDonald's Corporation | 51,179 |
| 47 | O'Reilly Auto Enterprises LLC | 50,000 |
| 48 | Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. | 46,577 |
| 49 | Consumer Direct Care Network Virginia LLC | 44,900 |
| 50 | Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation | 40,500 |
The top 5 biggest employers in the U.S.
Let's take a look at the top five companies with the most employees in the U.S. to find out about them in more detail.
1. Walmart Inc.
Walmart is the largest employer in the U.S., with 1.6 million employees, meaning that three-quarters (76.1%) of Walmart's global employees (2.1 million) work in the U.S.
Walmart has over 10,619 stores and Sam's Club locations in 19 countries, with 4,606 Walmart stores in the U.S. Texas has the most Walmart employees in the U.S. with 176,898 across 593 retail units.
2. Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon employs 1.1 million people in the U.S. with 1,525,000 employees worldwide. Amazon's employees work in a range of settings including corporate offices, order fulfillment centers, physical stores, and delivery hubs. The company employs people in 47 out of 50 states, with only Alaska, Wyoming, and Vermont having no Amazon workers.
Despite Amazon's headquarters being in Seattle, Washington, the state with the highest number of Amazon workers is California with a total of 162,000 employees as of 2022.
Workers at Amazon in the U.S. are 53.2% male and 46.6% female, however, senior leaders are 73.3% male.
3. United Parcel Service, Inc.
United Parcel Service (or UPS) is third on the list with 443,000 members of staff in the U.S. out of around 500,000 workers worldwide. 21% of UPS workers globally are women and 48% are ethnically diverse.
It was reported in January 2024 that UPS would be laying off 12,000 employees in order to raise $1 billion in cost savings.
4. Target Corporation
Target comes in fourth on the list of the largest employers in the U.S. with a total of 427,346 employees as of 2023. 44% of Target's employees are service workers (190,622 in total), and 37% are sales workers (158,477 in total).
5. Home Depot, Inc.
The fifth biggest employer in the U.S. is Home Depot, with a total of 418,900 workers as of 2022. This figure has decreased from 437,000 in 2021 and 441,000 in 2020.
Home Depot's workforce is more ethnically diverse than the average U.S. working population, with 48% of their workers coming from underrepresented minority groups, compared to 38% on average for the U.S.
Largest employers by state
32 of the biggest employers across the 50 states have all of their employees in the same state. Let's take a look at the companies with the highest employee numbers in one state.
| State | Largest Employer | Employees in State | Total Employees | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho | Albertsons Companies Inc. | 270,000 | 545,000 | Grocery stores |
| North Carolina | Rich Square Logistics LLC | 200,000 | 200,000 | Arrangement of transportation of freight and cargo |
| Texas | Walmart Inc | 176,898 | 2,100,000 | Big-box retailer |
| California | Amazon | 162,000 | 1,525,000 | Online retailer |
| Connecticut | CCO Holdings Capital Corp | 96,100 | 96,100 | Cable & other pay television services |
| Michigan | FCA US LLC | 77,800 | 113,200 | Motor vehicle dealers |
| New Jersey | ADP Atlantic LLC | 54,000 | 54,000 | Accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services |
| Missouri | O'Reilly Auto Enterprises LLC | 50,000 | 50,000 | Auto and home supply stores |
| Montana | Consumer Direct Care Network Virginia LLC | 44,900 | 44,900 | Business services |
| New York | BNY Mellon | 40,000 | 40,000 | State commercial banks |
| Maryland | URS Federal Services International Inc. | 39,700 | 39,700 | Engineering services |
| Kansas | Wanda America Investment Holding Co. LTD | 37,200 | 37,200 | Security systems services |
| Georgia | Creative Surfaces Inc. | 35,000 | 35,000 | Wood office and store fixtures, partitions, shelving, and lockers |
| Virginia | BFI Transfer Systems of Virginia LLC | 33,000 | 33,000 | Refuse systems |
| Pennsylvania | Wolseley Investments Inc | 33,000 | 33,000 | Industrial supplies |
| Minnesota | Mayo Foundation For Medical Education and Research | 30,000 | 60,000 | Management services |
| Utah | Intermountain Health | 30,000 | 30,000 | Offices and clinics of doctors of medicine |
| Washington | Huron Merger Sub LLC | 28,500 | 28,500 | Radiotelephone communications |
| Colorado | American Medical Response Inc | 27,000 | 33,000 | Cable and other pay television services |
| Arizona | Wok Parent LLC | 26,000 | 26,000 | Restaurants |
| Massachusetts | Austin Holdco Inc. | 22,800 | 22,800 | Computer programming services |
| Ohio | Needle Holdings Inc. | 22,000 | 22,000 | Hobby, toy, and game shops |
| Oklahoma | MSDG Elizabethtown LLC | 20,300 | 20,300 | Operators of nonresidential buildings |
| Iowa | PPW Holdings | 19,700 | 19,700 | Natural gas distribution |
| Tennessee | P&MCS Holding Corp | 16,300 | 16,300 | Restaurants |
| Florida | ADT Holdings | 16,000 | 16,000 | Detective, guard, and armored car services |
| Indiana | Couche-Tard US Inc | 15,200 | 15,200 | Grocery stores |
| Wisconsin | SBRH Holdings LLC | 13,000 | 13,000 | Electric housewares and fans |
| Oregon | Nike Inc | 12,600 | 75,400 | Rubber and plastics footwear |
| Illinois | Allstate Corp. | 12,000 | 46,300 | Life insurance |
| Nevada | Station Voteco LLC | 12,000 | 12,000 | Hotels and motels |
| Arkansas | Walmart Inc | 11,700 | 2,200,000 | Department stores |
| South Carolina | Compucom Systems Holding LLC | 11,000 | 11,000 | Offices of holding companies |
| Kentucky | UofL Health-Louisville Inc | 10,000 | 10,000 | Health and allied services |
| New Hampshire | Corning Neoptix | 10,000 | 10,000 | Optical instruments and lenses |
| New Mexico | National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC | 10,000 | 12,000 | Commercial physical and biological research |
| Mississippi | Ingalls Shipbuilding Inc. | 7,500 | 7,500 | Shipbuilding and repairs |
| Rhode Island | SRA Companies Inc | 7,300 | 7,300 | Security brokers, dealers, and flotation companies |
| Louisiana | Ochsner Foundation Hospital | 6,600 | 6,600 | General medical and surgical hospitals |
| Nebraska | Nebraska Medicine | 6,100 | 15,200 | General medical and surgical hospitals |
| Delaware | E I Du Pont Nemours And Co | 6,000 | 21,000 | Pesticides and agricultural chemicals |
| Alabama | Health Care Authority of City of Huntsville | 5,000 | 14,000 | Offices & clinics of doctors of medicine |
| West Virginia | QSL of Wheeling Inc | 4,800 | 4,800 | Restaurants |
| Vermont | University of Vermont Medical Center Inc. | 4,000 | 7,000 | General medical & surgical hospitals |
| Hawaii | Kyo-Ya Hotels & Resorts LP | 3,300 | 4,000 | Hotels and motels |
| South Dakota | N A Citibank | 3,200 | 9,100 | National commercial banks |
| North Dakota | Altru Health System | 3,100 | 3,800 | Medical equipment rental and leasing |
| Maine | LL Bean Inc. | 3,000 | 5,000 | Catalog and mail-order houses |
| Wyoming | Omega Probe Inc | 2,200 | 2,200 | Computer programming services |
| Alaska | AES Marine Support Services LLC | 1,800 | 1,800 | Oil & gas field services |
Source: The Ascent
Albertsons Companies Inc - Idaho
The company that employs the most people in a single state is Albertsons Companies Inc with 270,000 employees in Idaho alone. This makes up just under half (49.5%) of the company's total employees (545,000). Albertsons is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the U.S. with 2,200 stores spreading across 34 states.
Rich Square Logistics LLC - North Carolina
Based in Charlotte, Rich Square Logistics LLC employs all of its 200,000 workers in North Carolina, with headquarters in Charlotte. The company specializes in transportation of freight and cargo.
Walmart - Texas
Walmart is the largest employer in the state of Texas with a total of 176,898 people employed in this state. They make up 11% of the 1.6 million Walmart workers across the U.S. There are 593 Walmart stores in Texas, including 391 supercenters and 18 discount stores.
Amazon - California
Amazon is the biggest employer in California with 162,000 workers in this state alone as of 2023, making up 15% of Amazon's U.S.-based employees. In September 2024, it was announced that Amazon would be closing two of its facilities in California, with around 300 jobs expected to be impacted.
Washington is the state with the second most Amazon workers at 90,000, with Amazon's headquarters based in Seattle Washington.
CCO Holdings Capital Corp - Connecticut
The largest employer in Connecticut is CCO Holdings Capital Corp. Based in Stamford, the company employs all of its 96,100 workers in Connecticut.
Workers employed by the U.S. Government
While this analysis covers the largest companies in the U.S. by employee numbers, the U.S. government is the biggest single employer in the country.
Federal government employees
As of July 2024, there are approximately 3 million people employed by the U.S. Federal Government. These workers are employed by various departments of government including the U.S. Armed Forces, the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Postal Service.
State and local government employees
State and local governments also employ millions of workers in the U.S. with 19.6 million employees across these governments in total. Local governments have a combined workforce of 14.2 million, while state governments employ 5.4 million workers.
Methodology
To calculate the figures in this piece, we took a list of the largest companies in the U.S. from Stock Analysis. We then researched each company individually to find the most up-to-date employee numbers for workers based in the U.S., typically using companies' EEO-1 (Equal Employment Opportunity) reports on employee numbers by year.
The list of largest employers by state was taken from The Ascent. Figures from Stock Analysis and The Ascent were then cross-referenced to ensure the most recent figures for both sets of data.
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Sources
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