America’s 20 Largest Public-Company Employers

America’s largest companies don’t just generate billions of dollars in revenue—they also employ millions of people. Looking at approximate U.S. employee counts reported in recent SEC filings and annual reports, the scale of the country’s biggest workforces becomes strikingly clear.

At the top of the list is Walmart, with roughly 1.6 million U.S. employees, making it by far the largest employer among publicly traded companies in the country. Amazon follows with more than 1 million U.S. workers. Together, those two companies alone account for more than 2.5 million jobs.

There is a significant drop after the top two. Home Depot, Target, and Kroger round out the top five, each employing more than 400,000 people in the United States. Major transportation companies FedEx and UPS also rank near the top, reflecting the enormous workforce required to keep America’s delivery and logistics networks moving.

Healthcare is another major source of employment. HCA Healthcare, CVS Health, and UnitedHealth Group all appear among the country’s largest corporate employers. Retailers including Lowe’s, Publix, TJX Companies, Walgreens, Starbucks, Costco, and Dollar General further demonstrate just how heavily the list is dominated by businesses with thousands of physical locations across the country.

Combined, the companies shown in our graphic employ millions of Americans, providing a snapshot of just how large the nation’s biggest corporate workforces have become.

The Daily Rivet compiled these figures from recent SEC filings and company annual reports. Employee counts represent approximate U.S. headcounts and may be rounded. The graphic focuses on publicly traded companies and does not represent a ranking of every private or government employer in the United States.