These are the best companies to work for in Kentucky, according to Forbes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Forbes ranked 50 companies as Kentucky’s top employers based on worker surveys.
- Employee feedback highlighted wage equality, advancement and workplace culture.
- General Motors, Chewy and Fidelity led the top 10 list of employers in Kentucky.
If you’re on the hunt for a new job, you could do worse than these Kentucky employers ranked by Forbes as the best in the Bluegrass.
Forbes recently worked with market research firm Statista to survey more than 160,000 employees across the U.S. on questions including how likely they are to recommend their current and past employers.
Forbes included only the highest-rated companies on its list, with 1,417 companies nationwide making the cut. Some ranked in multiple states.
Here’s how Kentucky employers performed:
Who are the best employers to work for in Kentucky, according to Forbes?
Forbes included 50 companies in its analysis of the best places to work in Kentucky.
The companies’ headquarters are scattered across the country. What they all have in common is their current employees rate them highly on criteria such as wage parity, work culture, paths for professional advancement and appropriate action on serious issues like sexual harassment, according to Forbes.
Here are the top 10 employers to work for in Kentucky, according to Forbes:
1. General Motors
2. Chewy
3. Leggett & Platt
4. Fidelity Investments
5. Ashland
6. Norton Healthcare
7. Toyota North America
8. Citigroup
9. Ford Motor
10. University of Kentucky
Did any Kentucky-based companies make Forbes’ list?
Forbes recognized 24 Kentucky-based employers as some of the best places to work, including three that charted only outside Kentucky.
The companies span the public and private sectors. In alphabetical order, they are:
- Appalachian Regional Healthcare, based in Hazard - No. 34
- Baptist Health (Kentucky), headquartered in Louisville - No. 21
- Boone County School District, based in Florence - No. 40
- Brown-Forman, based in Louisville - No. 32
- Commonwealth of Kentucky, based in Frankfort - No. 39
- Daviess County School District, based in Owensboro - No. 44
- Fruit of the Loom, based in Bowling Green - No. 14
- Henderson County School District, based in Henderson - No. 31
- Humana, based in Louisville - No. 13
- Kentucky Community & Technical College System, in Versailles - No. 19
- Lexmark International, based in Lexington - No. 15
- Louisville Metro Government - No. 12
- Norton Healthcare, based in Louisville - No. 6
- Oldham County Schools, based in Buckner - No. 37
- Owensboro Health - No. 43
- Papa John’s International, based in Louisville - No. 61 in Indiana (not ranked in Kentucky)
- Pikeville Medical Center - No. 26
- St. Elizabeth Healthcare, based in Edgewood - No. 27
- Texas Roadhouse, headquartered in Louisville - No. 56 in Texas (not ranked in Kentucky)
- Toyota Boshoku, based in Erlanger - No. 51 in Indiana (not ranked in Kentucky)
- UK HealthCare - No. 11
- University of Kentucky - No. 10
- University of Louisville - No. 35
- Yum! Brands, based in Louisville - No. 50
How did Forbes rank the best employers in each state?
Forbes produces numerous lists each year spotlighting the best employers across a range of categories.
Unlike many other similar lists, Forbes does not solicit or accept submissions from employers, relying instead on research and data analysis to home in on top employers.
Employer criteria can vary based on the category, but Forbes generally uses employee headcount, number of years in business, industry category and location for initial qualifying criteria. Companies do not pay fees to participate or be selected, according to Forbes.
In this case, employee responses were tallied and incorporated into a scoring system. The analysis used survey data from the past three years, with greater weight placed on more recent data and to responses from current employees based in the state, according to Forbes.
The full ranking is available to view on Forbes’ website.