Michael B. Sauter and Grant Suneson
Corrections and Clarifications: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed the largest employer in New Hampshire.
Walmart is by far the largest employerin the United States, employing about 1.5 million Americans. Other companies, however, are beginning to close in on Walmart’s headcount.
Amazon, thanks to rampant growth and the acquisition of businesses such as Whole Foods, is now the nation’s second largest employer, although it has far to go to catch up to Walmart. The company now employs about 400,000 people in the United States.
State governments tend to be the largest employers in each state. There are over 5 million state government employees nationwide. When excluding public administrative bodies, Walmart is the largest employer in 22 states, but a number of other public organizations operating as companies – often a state university or hospital network – also emerge as the biggest employers on the state level.
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The size of these companies and institutions varies considerably. In Alaska, the largest employer, the Providence Health & Services network of hospitals, employs around 4,000 people. In Washington state, Boeing employs nearly 80,000 people. In Texas, Walmart employs over 164,000 workers.
Based on the most recent available full- and part-time employee counts, these are the largest employers in each of the 50 states.
To determine the largest employer in each state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed employment figures for nonprofits and private and publicly held companies from company press releases, government data, business journals, local media reports, as well as statements from company representatives. For the purposes of our analysis, we treated some state government employers like public universities as independent organizations, in keeping with how states frequently identify and compare company headcounts. Military bases were excluded from the list.
In some cases, the employment count of a hospital network primarily located in a state included a small portion of out-of-state employees. If the network was determined to be mostly in-state, we kept the total employment figure when a state-specific employment count could not be determined. In those cases and some others, the values included are listed as estimates.
1. Alabama
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 37,989
• Industry: Retail
2. Alaska
• Largest employer: Providence Health & Services
• Employee headcount: ~4,000
• Industry: Hospitals
3. Arizona
• Largest employer: Banner Health
• Employee headcount: 43,102
• Industry: Hospitals
4. Arkansas
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 49,165
• Industry: Retail
5. California
• Largest employer: University of California
• Employee headcount: 227,786
• Industry: Public universities
6. Colorado
• Largest employer: University of Colorado
• Employee headcount: ~36,000
• Industry: Public universities
7. Connecticut
• Largest employer: Yale New Haven Health System
• Employee headcount: 25,199
• Industry: Hospitals
8. Delaware
• Largest employer: Christiana Care
• Employee headcount: 11,856
• Industry: Hospitals
9. Florida
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 105,888
• Industry: Retail
10. Georgia
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 59,922
• Industry: Retail
11. Hawaii
• Largest employer: Altres Industrial
• Employee headcount: ~10,000
• Industry: Staffing
12. Idaho
• Largest employer: St. Luke's Health System
• Employee headcount: ~14,000
• Industry: Hospitals
13. Illinois
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 52,603
• Industry: Retail
14. Indiana
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 40,385
• Industry: Retail
15. Iowa
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 17,218
• Industry: Retail
16. Kansas
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 20,330
• Industry: Retail
17. Kentucky
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 28,862
• Industry: Retail
18. Louisiana
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 34,830
• Industry: Retail
19. Maine
• Largest employer: MaineHealth
• Employee headcount: ~15,000
• Industry: Hospitals
20. Maryland
• Largest employer: Johns Hopkins University
• Employee headcount: 31,320
• Industry: Universities
21. Massachusetts
• Largest employer: Partners Healthcare
• Employee headcount: 60,300
• Industry: Hospitals
22. Michigan
• Largest employer: General Motors
• Employee headcount: 52,113
• Industry: Public universities
23. Minnesota
• Largest employer: Mayo Clinic
• Employee headcount: 41,691
• Industry: Hospitals
24. Mississippi
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 23,605
• Industry: Retail
25. Missouri
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 41,399
• Industry: Retail
26. Montana
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 4,622
• Industry: Retail
27. Nebraska
• Largest employer: University of Nebraska
• Employee headcount: ~14,000
• Industry: Public universities
28. Nevada
• Largest employer: MGM Resorts International
• Employee headcount: 51,000
• Industry: Casinos & hotels
29. New Hampshire
• Largest employer: Dartmouth-Hitchco*ck Health system
• Employee headcount: 12,860
• Industry: Health care
30. New Jersey
• Largest employer: Wakefern Food Corporation
• Employee headcount: 40,000
• Industry: Supermarkets
31. New Mexico
• Largest employer: University of New Mexico
• Employee headcount: 27,000+
• Industry: Public universities
32. New York
• Largest employer: State University of New York system
• Employee headcount: 91,182
• Industry: Public universities
33. North Carolina
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 57,431
• Industry: Retail
34. North Dakota
• Largest employer: Sanford Health
• Employee headcount: 14,487
• Industry: Hospitals
35. Ohio
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 49,330
• Industry: Retail
36. Oklahoma
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 31,845
• Industry: Retail
37. Oregon
• Largest employer: Providence Health & Services
• Employee headcount: 22,340
• Industry: Hospitals
38. Pennsylvania
• Largest employer: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
• Employee headcount: 87,000
• Industry: Hospitals
39. Rhode Island
• Largest employer: Lifespan System of Hospitals
• Employee headcount: ~14,000
• Industry: Hospitals
40. South Carolina
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 33,298
• Industry: Retail
41. South Dakota
• Largest employer: Sanford Health Network
• Employee headcount: 13,196
• Industry: Hospitals
42. Tennessee
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 40,274
• Industry: Retail
43. Texas
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 164,611
• Industry: Retail
44. Utah
• Largest employer: Intermountain Healthcare
• Employee headcount: ~37,000
• Industry: Hospitals
45. Vermont
• Largest employer: The University of Vermont Medical Center
• Employee headcount: ~7,500
• Industry: Public universities
46. Virginia
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 43,323
• Industry: Retail
47. Washington
• Largest employer: Boeing
• Employee headcount: 69,830
• Industry: Manufacturing
48. West Virginia
• Largest employer: WVU Health
• Employee headcount: 18,492
• Industry: Retail
49. Wisconsin
• Largest employer: University of Wisconsin
• Employee headcount: 39,000
• Industry: Public universities
50. Wyoming
• Largest employer: Walmart
• Employee headcount: 4,438
• Industry: Retail
24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
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