While millions of Americans lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest U.S. corporations and organizations continued to employ tens of thousands of workers.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed the most recent employment figures for nonprofits and private and publicly held companies using company press releases, government data, business journals, local media reports, as well as statements from company representatives to determine the largest employer in each state.
Federal and state governments tend to employ more Americans in a given state than any private company. Government employees may work directly for government departments or for other organizations, such as public universities. We therefore considered such public employees separately. For instance, a number of public university systems rank as the top employers in their state.Â
While large schools and health care companies employed many thousands of people, roughly 2.5 million Americans worked for either Walmart or Amazon. In most states, Walmart employed at least 20,000 people, and in half of all states, Amazon employed more than 10,000 people. Many of the jobs these companies offer have little or no prior work or educational requirements. While this makes them accessible to nearly anyone in the workforce, these jobs do not tend to pay high wages. These are the lowest paying jobs in America.
Click here to see largest employer in every state.
Click here to see our detailed methodology.
Source: Wolterk / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Alabama
> Largest employer: University of Alabama System
> Employees: 45,000
> Industry: Education
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Source: chamey / iStock via Getty Images
Alaska
> Largest employer: University of Alaska System
> Employees: 7,147
> Industry: Education
Arizona
> Largest employer: Banner Health
> Employees: 43,000
> Industry: Health care
Source: wellesenterprises / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Arkansas
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 49,242
> Industry: Retail
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Source: Sundry Photography / iStock via Getty Images
California
> Largest employer: University of California System
> Employees: 216,200
> Industry: Education
Colorado
> Largest employer: University of Colorado System
> Employees: 37,000
> Industry: Education
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Source: Alexander Farnsworth / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Connecticut
> Largest employer: Yale New Haven Health
> Employees: 26,028
> Industry: Health care
Source: senatorchriscoons / Flickr
Delaware
> Largest employer: ChristianaCare
> Employees: 12,181
> Industry: Health care
Source: Roman Tiraspolsky / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Florida
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 103,550
> Industry: Retail
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Georgia
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 58,155
> Industry: Retail
Source: Phil Mislinski / Getty Images News via Getty Images
Hawaii
> Largest employer: Hawaii Department of Education
> Employees: 25,000
> Industry: Education
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Source: St. Luke's Health System / Facebook
Idaho
> Largest employer: St. Luke’s Health System
> Employees: 14,652
> Industry: Health care
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Source: Aneekr / Wikimedia Commons
Illinois
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 52,313
> Industry: Retail
Indiana
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 39,676
> Industry: Retail
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Source: Courtesy of Adam F. via Yelp
Iowa
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 16,126
> Industry: Retail
Kansas
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 19,157
> Industry: Retail
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Kentucky
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 27,677
> Industry: Retail
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Source: Courtesy of Melody N. via Yelp
Louisiana
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 32,319
> Industry: Retail
Source: MaineHealth Careers / Facebook
Maine
> Largest employer: MaineHealth
> Employees: 18,000
> Industry: Health care
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Source: DelmasLehman / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Maryland
> Largest employer: Johns Hopkins Medicine
> Employees: 39,000
> Industry: Health care
Source: appledesign / iStock via Getty Images
Massachusetts
> Largest employer: Mass General Brigham
> Employees: 74,013
> Industry: Health care
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Source: tiny-al / iStock via Getty Images
Michigan
> Largest employer: University of Michigan System
> Employees: 51,669
> Industry: Education
Source: OGphoto / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
Minnesota
> Largest employer: Mayo Clinic Hospital
> Employees: 51,750
> Industry: Health care
Mississippi
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 22,869
> Industry: Retail
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Missouri
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 39,442
> Industry: Retail
Montana
> Largest employer: University of Montana System
> Employees: 8,689
> Industry: Education
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Source: RiverNorthPhotography / iStock via Getty Images
Nebraska
> Largest employer: University of Nebraska
> Employees: 13,709
> Industry: Education
Source: jetcityimage / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Nevada
> Largest employer: MGM Resorts International
> Employees: 42,000
> Industry: Leisure and hospitality
Source: Ken Gallager / Wikimedia Commons
New Hampshire
> Largest employer: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Center
> Employees: 12,000
> Industry: Health care
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Source: Wikimedia Commons/Raysonho
New Jersey
> Largest employer: Amazon
> Employees: 49,000
> Industry: Retail
Source: JannHuizenga / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
New Mexico
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 13,055
> Industry: Retail
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Source: Michael Loccisano / Getty Images News via Getty Images
New York
> Largest employer: New York City Department of Education
> Employees: 135,000
> Industry: Education
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Source: felixmizioznikov / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
North Carolina
> Largest employer: Atrium Health
> Employees: 62,400
> Industry: Health care
Source: Courtesy of North Dakota State University via Facebook
North Dakota
> Largest employer: North Dakota University System
> Employees: 10,375
> Industry: Education
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Source: ubidesperarenescio / Flickr
Ohio
> Largest employer: Ohio University System
> Employees: 106,459
> Industry: Education
Source: DBinfo / Wikimedia Commons
Oklahoma
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 29,937
> Industry: Retail
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Source: M.O. Stevens / Wikimedia Commons
Oregon
> Largest employer: Providence Health & Services
> Employees: 20,597
> Industry: Health care
Source: bgwalker / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
Pennsylvania
> Largest employer: UPMC Presbyterian
> Employees: 65,000
> Industry: Health care
Source: hasbrochildrenshospital.org
Rhode Island
> Largest employer: Lifespan System of Hospitals
> Employees: 16,094
> Industry: Health care
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Source: Courtesy of Walmart Corporate Media / corporate.walmart.com
South Carolina
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 31,613
> Industry: Retail
Source: Jake DeGroot / Wikimedia Commons
South Dakota
> Largest employer: Sanford Health Network
> Employees: 28,000
> Industry: Health care
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Source: TennesseePhotographer / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Tennessee
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 38,250
> Industry: Retail
Source: Brett_Hondow / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Texas
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 158,361
> Industry: Retail
Source: C5Media / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Utah
> Largest employer: Intermountain Healthcare
> Employees: 37,467
> Industry: Health care
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Source: Redjar. / Wikimedia Commons
Vermont
> Largest employer: Vermont State Colleges
> Employees: 8,800
> Industry: Education
Virginia
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 41,339
> Industry: Retail
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Source: SEASTOCK / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Washington
> Largest employer: Amazon
> Employees: 80,000
> Industry: Retail
Source: Courtesy of West Virginia University
West Virginia
> Largest employer: WVU Health System
> Employees: 20,000
> Industry: Health care
Source: filo / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
Wisconsin
> Largest employer: University of Wisconsin System
> Employees: 40,000
> Industry: Education
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Source: Alexander Farnsworth / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Wyoming
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 4,560
> Industry: Retail
Methodology
To determine the largest employer in each state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the most recent employment figures for nonprofits and private and publicly held companies using 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 employees of public universities as independent organizations separately, 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. It should be noted that many employers do not publish employment counts, the companies listed are our best estimates based on research and publicly-available information.
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