Forbes says these are Illinois’ 25 best employers in 2025. Did yours make the cut?
The highest-rated employers by Illinois workers include a major airline, tech giants, a financial services company and more, according to a recent Forbes report.
The 2025 Forbes Best Employers by State ranking, published Aug. 21, was created using a survey of more than 160,000 employees in the U.S. working for companies with at least 500 employees. The survey asked how likely the participant was to recommend their employer on a scale of zero to 10, how they would evaluate their employers from the past two years and other organizations they were familiar with through industry knowledge or friends and family.
Along with Forbes’ top picks for best employers in Illinois, another publication, Inc., recently named a southern Illinois marketing company among the nation’s “best workplaces.” The state was also recently named the No. 6 best state to work in the U.S. by nonprofit organization Oxfam America. The Land of Lincoln performed particularly well for its rights to organize and wage policies in Oxfam’s ranking.
If you’re looking for remote work opportunities in Illinois, some companies are still hiring work-from-home employees based in the state, including jobs in finance and communications.
Here are the top 25 best employers in Illinois, according to Forbes. The top-ranked employers are not exclusively based in the state.
Best employers in Illinois in 2025
1. Southwest Airlines, headquartered in Dallas
2. Apple, headquartered in Cupertino, Calif.
3. Google, headquartered in Mountain View, Calif.
4. Fidelity Investments, headquartered in Boston
5. University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority headquartered in Madison, Wisc.
6. Costco Wholesale, headquartered in Issaquah, Wash.
7. Salesforce, headquartered in San Francisco
8. Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, Ill.
9. IBM, headquartered in Armonk, N.Y.
10. Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System, headquartered in Mattoon, Ill.
11. Harper College in Palatine, Ill.
12. AutoZone, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn.
13. Humana, headquartered in Louisville, Ky.
14. Edward Jones, headquartered in St. Louis
15. Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago
16. Dell Technologies, headquartered in Round Rock, Texas
17. Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Wash.
18. Grainger, headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill.
19. BJC Health System, headquartered in St. Louis
20. Accenture, headquartered in New York City
21. Meijer, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich.
22. Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill.
23. Wintrust, headquartered in Rosemont, Ill.
24. Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores, headquartered in Oklahoma City
25. BMO, headquartered in Chicago
Southwest Airlines jumped from 20th place in last year’s ranking to first this year for Illinois. As a result, Apple and Google each dropped one place, though they stayed in the same order. Many Chicago-based employers made the list below the top 25, including Hyatt Hotels, Northwestern Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine and more.
The News-Democrat has contacted officials with Southwest Airlines and Silver Cross Hospital for comment.
St. Louis employers Centene and Enterprise Mobility were ranked in 71st and 73rd place, respectively, while Carbondale-based Southern Illinois Healthcare was ranked 74th. Southern Illinois University Carbondale also made the list, in 76th.
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This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 4:45 AM.
