Alabama’s 15 best employers of 2026, according to Forbes

Some of Alabama’s largest employers were named among the best companies to work at in the country, according to Forbes’ annual list.

Four were named to the best “large employers” list (5,000+ employees), and the remaining eight are on the “mid-size employers” list (1,000 to 5,000 employees).

In Alabama, there are 16 total companies on the lists.

How does a company make it on the list?

To determine which employers make it on Forbes’ lauded annual lists, more than 217,000 employees working at companies within the U.S. with more than 1,000 employees were surveyed.

The anonymous survey respondents were asked their opinions on:

• If they would recommend their current employer to others
• Salary + benefits
• Opportunities to advance
• Work environment
• Previous employers from the last two years
• The employers they know through industry experience or through friends + family who worked there

Survey data from the last three years was used, allowing companies that have consistently ranked well to be recognized in comparison to those that may have had one good year. More recent data from current employees was weighted more heavily than previous years.

Companies pay no fee to participate or be selected.

Best Large Employers

Alabama’s best large employers, according to Forbes, are:

• Auburn
• UAB
• Regions
• Vulcan Materials
• Hibbett Sports

700 total employers were included on the list. Auburn’s ranking was #73, putting it in the top 100 employers in the country. It is also one of the oldest organizations on the list, founded back in 1856.

Best Mid-Size Employers

The best mid-size employers in Alabama, Forbes reported, are:

• Jacksonville State University
• Baptist Health
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama
• Alfa Insurance
• Cook’s Pest Control
• American Cast Iron Pipe
• AAA Cooper Transportation
• Brasfield & Gorrie
• Adtran
• Altec

Birmingham’s companies had a strong showing in the mid-size list, which includes 500 organizations.

Jacksonville State University was placed #68, also putting it in the top 100 of its list.

Bonus: Alabama’s ‘Dream Employers’

In addition to its other lists Forbes releases, it also publishes America’s “Dream Employers” by surveying college students and 140,000 U.S.-based employees at companies across all sectors.

Students were asked:

• Who they considered their dream employers to be
• How excited they would be to receive an offer from the company
• How appealing the employer was based on criteria including growth opportunities, quality of work, salary and company reputation

Employees were asked:

• Who their dream employers were
• If they would recommend their current employer or previous employer within the last two years
• To evaluate their companies based on criteria like wages, health benefits, professional development, working conditions and the ability of employees to express ideas

Among the 500 companies with the highest scores, three Alabama employers made the list.

The three Alabama companies — two of which are included on the large employers list — are:

• UAB
• Austal USA
• Hibbett Sports

Austal USA is Mobile’s one company on the list, representing a large aerospace and defense presence in the industry.

What do you think of these ratings? Do you think your employer should be on the list? Let us know on Facebook and Instagram by tagging us @thebamabuzz!