Forbes named this year’s best employers in NC. 12 are headquartered in the Triangle

Some of the best employers in North Carolina are based in the Triangle, according to a new ranking.

Forbes recently published its annual America’s Best Employers By State list, which includes nearly 1,300 companies across the United States.

North Carolina employers at a glance

Forbes scored and ranked 100 companies that employ North Carolinians.

Of those, 31 employers are based in North Carolina, and 12 have headquarters in the Triangle. Last year, Forbes ranked 96 employers in North Carolina, with 19 of them based in the Triangle.

The companies with headquarters in the state fall under a range of industries, including education, health care, food, finance, retail, government, automotive and transportation.

These top NC employers are headquartered in the Triangle

These are the best 25 companies to work for in North Carolina, according to Forbes, along with their headquarters:

1. Duke Energy: Charlotte, North Carolina
2. Hilton Worldwide Holdings: McLean, Virginia
3. Apple: Cupertino, California
4. Microsoft: Redmond, Washington
5. Western Carolina University: Cullowhee, North Carolina
6. Ferguson Enterprises: Newport News, Virginia
7. Edward Jones: St. Louis, Missouri
8. Verizon Communications: New York, New York
9. PNC Financial Services: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
10. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina: Durham, North Carolina
11. Duke University: Durham, North Carolina
12. Publix Super Markets: Lakeland, Florida
13. Baxter International: Deerfield, Illinois
14. Nike: Beaverton, Oregon
15. Wake Forest University: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
16. Volvo Group North America: Greensboro, North Carolina
17. Cigna: Bloomfield, Connecticut
18. Fidelity Investments: Boston, Massachusetts
19. Google: Mountain View, California
20. BAYADA Home Health Care: Pennsauken Township, New Jersey
21. Siemens: Washington, D.C.
22. Bath & Body Works: Columbus, Ohio
23. JLL: Chicago, Illinois
24. Duke University Health System: Durham, North Carolina
25. Averitt Express: Cookeville, Tennessee

Trader Joe’s and Salesforce made the top of North Carolina’s best employers list in 2023, but they weren’t in the state’s ranking this year.

Wake Forest University is lower in the rankings this year, compared to a No. 8 rank last year. Blue Cross Blue Shield and Volvo rose in the list, from No. 21 and No. 18, respectively, in 2023.

North Carolina schools make Forbes’ ranking

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked No. 27.
• Raleigh’s North Carolina State University came in No. 34.
• North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro came in at No. 40.
• Cumberland County Schools, based in Fayetteville, ranked No. 47.
• Appalachian State University in Boone ranked No. 48.
• UNC Charlotte came in No. 66.
• Buncombe County Schools, based in Asheville, ranked No. 81.

While Wake Forest University, UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State ranked lower this year compared to last year, Duke University jumped in the rankings.

NC-based companies among best 100 in the state

• No. 29: UNC Health Care (Chapel Hill). In 2023, it was ranked No. 7.
• No. 30: Butterball (Garner)
• No. 36: Syneos Health (Raleigh)
• No. 41: Atrium Health (Charlotte)
• No. 42: Bank of America (Charlotte)
• No. 45: First Citizens Bank (Raleigh). Last year, it ranked No. 20.
• No. 50: Lowe’s (Mooresville)
• No. 58: Novant Health (Winston-Salem). Last year, it ranked No. 38.
• No. 59: Wake County Government (Raleigh)
• No. 70: Belk (Charlotte)
• No. 72: Labcorp (Burlington)
• No. 80: Hendrick Automotive Group (Charlotte)
• No. 84: Old Dominion Freight Line (Thomasville)
• No. 85: Ingles Markets (Asheville)
• No. 87: Inmar (Winston-Salem)
• No. 88: WakeMed (Raleigh). Last year, it ranked No. 4.
• No. 91: The State of North Carolina (Raleigh). Last year, it ranked No. 80.
• No. 94: Cape Fear Valley Health System (Fayetteville)

How Forbes ranks companies

Forbes partnered with Statista, a market research firm, to survey over 160,000 employees working for companies with at least 500 employees in the United States.

Employees were asked several questions:

• How likely they were to recommend their company
• To evaluate the companies they’ve worked for within the past two years
• To evaluate organizations they knew within their industry or through friends or family who worked there

Responses, which came from all 50 states and D.C., were tallied and scored. The scoring system included survey data from the past three years, with more weight given to recent data and responses from current employees within the state. Companies with the highest scores in each state made Forbes’ list.

This story was originally published September 2, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Forbes named this year’s best employers in NC. 12 are headquartered in the Triangle."

Renee Umsted

The News & Observer

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Renee Umsted is a service journalism reporter for The News & Observer. She has a degree in journalism from the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at TCU.