The 20 Best Companies to Work for Based on Workplace Culture

Advertising Disclosure: When you buy something by clicking links on our site, we may earn a small commission, but it never affects the products or services we recommend.

LightField Studios / Shutterstock.com

A number of American workplaces today embrace open floor plans, dogs, work-from-home options and even places to nap. Less-visible elements of contemporary company culture include compensation, benefits and how meetings are run.

Comparably.com collects data on compensation and work culture. It recently issued its latest annual ranking of large (more than 500 employees) and small or midsize companies (fewer than 500 employees) based on their company culture.

The rankings are based on anonymous users’ responses to questions about their workplace. Let’s start with the large companies. Further down, you’ll find a ranking of small and midsize companies.

Large companies

10. Starbucks

Location: Seattle

What they do: Coffee giant Starbucks, whose coffee shops are located worldwide, is a familiar brand to most Americans.

Employee comment: “(The leadership team is) constantly looking to expand the brand and maintain the company image in line with the mission and vision statements. In short, Starbucks holds integrity.”

9. Blizzard Entertainment

Location: Irvine, California

What they do: Blizzard produces and develops entertainment software and is famed for such video game series as Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft.

Employee comment: “Most of the people here are very passionate about their interests and job, which is great.”

8. Salesforce

Location: San Francisco

What they do: Salesforce is a cloud-based software company, perhaps best known for its customer-relationship management product.

Employee comment: “Salesforce is constantly looking for ways to provide useful benefits that differentiate Salesforce from other companies. They look for ways to provide the benefits employees need at every season in life.”

7. Intuit

Location: Mountain View, California

What they do: Intuit is a business and financial-services company, probably best known to consumers for such products such as TurboTax, Mint and QuickBooks.

Employee comment: “I really like working at Intuit! The work is challenging, the mission of the company is great.”

6. Insight Global

Location: Atlanta

What they do: Insight Global is a national information technology staffing and services company.

Employee comment: “Our compensation package includes uncapped commission, incredible incentive programs and generous stock options. I’ve never heard of anything better!”

5. Aflac

Location: Columbus, Georgia

What they do: Insurance company Aflac is widely known thanks in part to its commercial mascot, the Aflac duck.

Employee comment: “They balance the needs for financial performance and stability with providing a culture that truly cares about employees, shareholders and most importantly, our customers.”

4. HubSpot

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

What they do: HubSpot develops and markets software products for sales and inbound marketing.

Employee comment: “People are kind, friendly and helpful. That’s true across the entire company.”

3. T-Mobile

Location: Bellevue, Washington

What they do: T-Mobile is a major U.S. provider of mobile phone service.

Employee comment: “I get paid too much. … The benefits are amazing and the pay is amazing.”

2. Google

Location: Mountain View, California

What they do: You probably know this massive tech company from its Google search engine, Gmail free email service, Google Maps and other services and products.

Employee comment: “They lead well enough to make me want to follow.”

1. Costco

Location: Issaquah, Washington

What they do: Costco ranks tops for workplace culture. The company operates a chain of membership warehouse clubs famous for its Kirkland products and for stellar customer service. (Here’s more about Costco: “10 Ways to Save Even More Money at Costco.”)

Employee comment: “I like the diversity of our leadership team. Everyone is different and able to contribute to the daily workflow in a different way. It’s also nice to have options on who to talk to in regards to certain circumstances.”

Small and midsize companies

10. Greenhouse Software Inc.

Location: New York City

What they do: Greenhouse Software, a technology company, specializes in recruiting software.

Employee comment: “It’s the best job I’ve had so far — the right balance of support, autonomy, responsibility and demand.”

9. Sitetracker

Location: Palo Alto, California

What they do: Sitetracker’s project management platform is used by infrastructure companies to manage complex projects.

Employee comment: “Leadership is often the first to come and last to leave because they are dedicated to their work at Sitetracker, growing the company and improving our product for our customers.”

8. CultureIQ

Location: New York City

What they do: CultureIQ, a global culture-management company, offers employers tools for assessing and building a company’s culture.

Employee comment: “My experience at CultureIQ is nothing short of, dare I say, a dream job! It’s a young company in an exciting emerging market with all the potential in the world, where I am compensated fairly and work with great people by my side day-in and day-out. Not sure what else I could ask for!”

7. People.ai

Location: San Francisco

What they do: People.ai helps companies extract sales data, including customer contacts, engagement and activity, to use for boosting revenue.

Employee comment: “The focus on customer is obvious through the actions and not just a buzzword. The work culture of collaboration and helping everyone around makes everyone very productive and happy to work.”

6. Pipedrive

Location: New York City

What they do: Pipedrive produces sales pipeline software centered on the needs of salespeople.

Employee comment: “They trust their teams and let people learn. They seriously believe that the best decisions are done inside teams.”

5. Phenom People

Location: Ambler, Pennsylvania

What they do: Phenom People’s relationship marketing platform connects job applicants and company recruiters.

Employee comment: “Everyone shares the common belief that we will help a billion people find the right job. Everyone wants to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to improve candidate experiences and client experiences.”

4. TripActions

Location: Palo Alto, California

What they do: TripActions offers a travel management platform for business travelers.

Employee comment: ” I have worked for many companies, but I have to say this has been the most exciting company I have worked for.”

3. SendGrid

Location: Denver

What they do: Email API platform company SendGrid recently was acquired by software maker Twilio Inc.

Employee comment: “I get the feeling that they truly care about each employee as a person. They are also super transparent about the business and what we need to be doing to be a stronger and stronger company.”

2. Drift

Location: Boston

What they do: Drift’s sales platform uses “conversational marketing” to improve and shorten the marketing and sales experience.

Employee comment: “Never met a more humble yet fiercely intelligent group. Always adapting to new situations and helping steer the course of the company in the right direction.”

1. Highspot

Location: Seattle

What they do: Highspot, a producer of sales tools and software, captured first place among small and midsize businesses.

Employee comment: “There is great transparency from the executive team, and they make a real effort to ensure everyone is included and feels like a major contributor. No one is left behind, and everyone is encouraged, even during difficult times.”

How would you describe the culture at your workplace? Share with us in comments below or on our Facebook page.

Get smarter with your money!

Want the best money-news and tips to help you make more and spend less? Then sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter to receive daily updates of personal finance news and advice, delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for our free newsletter today.