---
title: The 6 Biggest Employers in the U.S. Right Now
description: Here are the 6 biggest employers in the United States right now
authors:
  - name: Jennifer Calfas
    url: https://money.com/author/jennifer-calfas/
    at_money_since: 2017
    articles: 339
    covers:
      - Business
      - Banking
      - Career Advice
      - Credit Cards
      - Economy and Politics
      - Education
      - Housing
      - Identity Theft
      - Insurance
      - Investing
      - Lifestyle
      - Loans
      - Personal Finance
      - Pets
      - Retirement
      - Shopping
      - Taxes
      - Technology
    social:
      - https://x.com/jencalfas
    former_staff: true
published: '2017-04-27T19:30:11.000Z'
modified: '2024-05-16T12:21:37.000Z'
section: Business
word_count: 156
canonical: https://money.com/biggest-us-companies/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![Wal Mart Focuses On Growth As It Opens Six Supercenters In Ohio](https://img.money.com/2017/04/gettyimages-57636625.jpg)
*A Wal-Mart greeter waits to welcome new customers to the new 2,000 square foot Wal-Mart Supercenter store, on May 17, 2006 in Bowling Green, Ohio.*

Chances are you know someone who works at Walmart.

The discount retail store employs the most people of all publicly traded, American businesses with a staggering 2.3 million workers on its payroll. It's also the second-largest online retailer behind Amazon and employs several times more people than its closest competition.

[Kroger](https://time.com/4273450/kroger-unisex-bathroom/), a Midwestern-based grocery store chain, comes in second, with 443,000 employees, and Home Depot comes in third with 406,000 employees.

Responsible for inventing the [ATM](https://money.com/wells-fargo-atm-card/) and hard drive, IBM employs 380,300 people. And, rounding out the top five is fast-food giant McDonald’s, employing 375,000 people.

But, of course, these workers from these top businesses don’t make up a fraction those who work for the U.S.’s top employer: the government. A staggering 22.3 million people work for the U.S. government — but that’s not just politicians or their staffs. It includes public school teachers, police officers, post office workers and those working at your local DMV, among other government agencies.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "@id": "https://money.com/biggest-us-companies/#breadcrumb",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://money.com"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Business",
          "item": "https://money.com/business/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Company Culture",
          "item": "https://money.com/company-culture/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "The 6 Biggest Employers in the U.S. Right Now"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://money.com/#website",
      "url": "https://money.com",
      "name": "Money",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://money.com/biggest-us-companies/#webpage",
      "url": "https://money.com/biggest-us-companies/",
      "name": "The 6 Biggest Employers in the U.S. Right Now",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#website"
      },
      "datePublished": "2017-04-27T19:30:11.000Z",
      "mainEntity": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/biggest-us-companies/"
      },
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "breadcrumb": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/biggest-us-companies/#breadcrumb"
      },
      "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:21:37.000Z"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "The 6 Biggest Employers in the U.S. Right Now",
      "articleSection": "Business",
      "image": [
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/04/gettyimages-57636625.jpg",
          "width": 3000,
          "height": 2003,
          "caption": "Wal Mart Focuses On Growth As It Opens Six Supercenters In Ohio"
        }
      ],
      "author": [
        {
          "@type": "Person",
          "name": "Jennifer Calfas",
          "url": "https://money.com/author/jennifer-calfas/",
          "@id": "https://money.com/author/jennifer-calfas/#author",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://x.com/jencalfas"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization",
      "datePublished": "2017-04-27T19:30:11.000Z",
      "description": "Here are the 6 biggest employers in the United States right now",
      "abstract": "Here are the 6 biggest employers in the United States right now",
      "@id": "https://money.com/biggest-us-companies/",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:21:37.000Z",
      "wordCount": 156,
      "about": [
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Business",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business"
          ]
        },
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Organizational culture",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```