Meet America’s Dream Employers 2026

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wWith one in three people diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, curing this disease is one of humanity’s great objectives. At the American Cancer Society, this discovery is more than a dream – it’s a reality that staff pursue day after day.

“Many of us have been personally affected by cancer, and we are deeply motivated by our vision of ending cancer as we know it for all,” says Shane Jacobson, CEO of the Society.

That mission runs deep throughout the organization. As Kyle DeLeon, senior operations manager of state and legal advocacy at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, says: “Most people in large organizations are bound together by profit margins or sales numbers. We are bound together by a commitment to a mission and a purpose”—a call to action that has helped. American Cancer Society land in between America’s Dream Employer 2026,

To compile this second annual ranking, forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey 10,000 college students in the United States and 140,000 US-based employees of companies across all sectors that employ at least 1,000 people in the country. Students were asked which employer they considered to be their dream employer, and then asked to rate how excited they would be to receive an offer from the company. Student participants were also asked how attractive the employer was based on criteria including growth opportunities, quality of work, compensation, and company reputation.

Additionally, employee respondents were asked not only about their dream employers, but also whether they would recommend their current employer or previous employer (within the past two years). Current workers were also asked to evaluate their employers based on criteria such as pay, health benefits, professional development, workplace flexibility and employees’ ability to express ideas. The responses were then tallied and analyzed. last three years data forbes-Statista employee surveys were also included, with data from current employees given more weight than past employee responses and older data. Ultimately, over 266,000 data points were considered and each employer was given a score. Made Our List of 500 Highest Scoring Companies America’s Dream Employer 2026,

The resulting rankings reveal several trends. For one: Many students dream of going into the medical field to make a difference, as evidenced by the many healthcare organizations at the top of our list, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (No. 2) in Memphis, Tennessee, Shriners Children (No. 10), headquartered in Tampa, Florida and based in Minnesota Mayo Clinic (No. 11) – All of these also rank on our list America’s Best Employers for Healthcare ProfessionalsDelinda Washington, senior vice president of human resources and chief people officer, says employees at healthcare organizations take pride in doing work that matters, health partner (No. 36) in Bloomington, Minnesota. This sense of purpose makes HealthPartners feel like “much more than a job,” she says. “This is a place where you can build a meaningful career.”

Similarly, during nursing school at Texas Christian University, Kiara DeWitt found her North Star: Cook Children’s Health Care System (No. 72) DeWitt says, “This was the place where all the nurses wanted to work. You heard it all over campus.” Her dreams were further confirmed as a student supervisor in the organization. “The energy, the culture, the teamwork – it was something I had never experienced before.” DeWitt is now a pediatric neurology registered nurse and a lead clinical educator at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Granted, the realities of a career in medicine can be difficult. Years of schooling, heavy workloads, red tape and long study hours are common. But for DeWitt, Cook Children’s supportive team and mission-driven work have made every moment worthwhile. When thinking about recent shifts, she says, “I remember long 12-hour days that felt like six, just because every second had purpose.”

The top employers on our list also demonstrate another quality: They combine dreams with reality, recognizing that while meaningful work matters, so too do benefits and balance. The American Cancer Society (No. 49) has “Flex Fridays” throughout the year, in which the work week ends at noon, plus a two-week winter break. During the last year, athenahealth According to Chief People Officer Brittany Podolak, (No. 19) expanded benefits to cover the cost of shipping breast milk home for employees traveling for work, as well as adoption and surrogacy expenses. “People tell us that these benefits matter because they solve real challenges in their lives, not just theoretical challenges,” she says.

Beyond healthcare, our list shows that many students and employees aspire to work in IT software and services. Five of the top 10 dream employers are from this industry: Microsoft (No. 3), Google (number 4), IBM (number 6), nintendo (number 8) and Linkedin (number nine).

Technology remains a dream field despite massive layoffs. In fact, as of early November, tech companies have announced cuts of 141,159 jobs this year, which is 17% more than the 120,470 cuts announced in the same period last year, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement and career transition firm. This October alone, tech companies cut 33,281 jobs, up from 5,639 in September, partly due to AI integration, which led to company restructuring. But tech companies are still attracting job candidates, possibly because companies have worked to turn the negative discourse around AI into skill-building opportunities.

For example, Yours (No. 29), the company behind products like TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, has facilitated an intense focus on AI (known as an AI Learning Sprint) to drive employee efficiency and adoption of artificial intelligence. Zohra Yafai, vice president of talent acquisition at Intuit, says thousands of employees participated in the sprint at various events. Yafai says the company encourages employees to expand their skills by participating in rotations or moving into new roles later, helping them “expand their potential without leaving the company.” In fact, Intuit fills more than a quarter of its open roles with internal candidates. Additionally, Yafai says, Intuit offers manager training programs that focus on goal-setting and providing feedback to employees to encourage growth among mid-level managers.

sales force (No. 15), for its part, aims to train 80% of its employees in AI skills by the end of the year, said Molly Q., vice president of talent connections and engagement. Ford says. The company created an AI-powered internal talent marketplace that identifies new roles, assignments, upskilling opportunities and training across the organization. Since launching last year, “the response has been incredible, with 76% of Salesforce employees using the platform,” Ford says.

Salesforce starts talent development before employees even join the business. The talent acquisition team recruits students globally for internships and new graduate roles. Its Futureforce Tech Launchpad at its San Francisco headquarters offers high school students a 10-week introduction to software engineering and AI. “The goal is to prepare youth for future internships and careers in the tech field, whether at Salesforce or beyond,” says Ford.

Offering students this kind of workplace experience is a common theme among the employers on our list. According to Washington, two years ago, HealthPartners launched a college-to-career scholarship, offering up to $6,000 to students pursuing a 2-year degree while interning or working part-time at HealthPartners. And in athenahealth’s summer internship and co-op programs, students “don’t just observe from the sidelines,” Podolak says. “We bring people in to contribute and make an impact.” That approach, in turn, benefits athenahealth. “When students have a real experience doing work that matters, they tell their peers,” Podolak says. Students become “informal ambassadors” on campus and help bring additional strong candidates into the company’s talent pipeline.

However, sometimes, the realization of having a dream employer comes later. Greg Moriates, Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Business Management JPMorgan Chase (No. 22) initially thought that his tenure at the company would be temporary. As time went on, he says, he was inspired by strong leadership and passionate colleagues who shared the vision of helping local businesses overcome financial obstacles. One project that stands out: developing plans to help an entrepreneur make the transition from fashion designer to store owner. “Seeing her success and knowing that we played a part in it was incredibly rewarding,” says Moriates.

For Moriates, what was supposed to be a blip on the resume turned into a 13-year career – and counting. “Now I can’t imagine working anywhere else,” he says.

Click here for the full list of America’s Dream Employers.

Methodology

To create America’s Dream Employer 2026 forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey 10,000 college students in the United States and 140,000 US-based employees of companies across all sectors that employ at least 1,000 people in the country. Students were asked which employer they considered to be their dream employer and then they were asked how excited they would be to receive an offer from the company. Student participants were also asked how attractive the employer was based on criteria including growth opportunities, quality of work, salary and company reputation.

Employee respondents were asked about their dream employers, as well as whether they would recommend their current employer or previous employer (within the past two years). Current workers were also asked to evaluate their companies based on criteria such as pay, health benefits, professional development, working conditions and the ability of employees to express ideas.

The responses were then tallied and analyzed. last three years data forbes-Statista employee surveys were included, with data from current employees given more weight than past employee responses and older data. Ultimately, over 266,000 data points were considered and each employer was given a score. The 500 companies with the highest scores made our list America’s Dream Employer 2026,

Click here to read more about how we create these lists. For questions about this list, please email listdesk (at) forbes.com.



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