SPRINGFIELD – Thirty-one Illinois companies were honored in Inc. Magazine’s annual list of best places to work across the United States, which recognizes organizations that have built up company culture and in-house benefit to retain employees and performance.
While a majority of the list spans across the Chicagoland area like cult favorite meat-stick company CHOMPS, there are downstate companies on the list as well.
In total, 507 organizations were recognized in 2026, with Illinois snagging just over 6% of the total list entries.
What Illinois companies made the list?
As mentioned, most of the companies are from Chicago or the surrounding areas. Outside of the Chicagoland suburbs include a business from Rockford, Bloomington and Carlinville.
The businesses are broken down by employee engagement score, benefits score, company size and industry.
A company with five to nine employees needs a minimum score of 95 to qualify, while a larger company with over 500 employees at least a score of 85, so even if a score is lower, if the company is larger, it can score higher.
Here’s a look at the companies alphabetically, what kind of industry the company is and the location of the company.
Inc. Magazine also releases an annual list of the fastest growing companies across the United States, showcasing 5,000 companies nationally.
Methodology
To qualify for Inc.’s Best Workplaces list, an organization must be independent of other companies, be based in the United States, have at least five permanent employees in business at least two years and have less than $1 billion in total annual revenue.
If a company qualifies, the organization must fill out an application with the CEO, organization size and approximate annual sales.
Companies were chosen for the list based on employee surveys and polls conducted on 37 key work benefits a company can offer to the employees.
Then, to uphold winning companies claims for being a great place to work at, employees must corroborate it.
Employees also answer about their pay, management and senior leadership on a six-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree, in addition to open-ended questions about their work environment. Employers must achieve a certain employee participation rate based on the size of their organization.
If a company meets the requirements for the benefits audit and employee engagement survey, the business earns a spot on the list.
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@usatodayco.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Inc. Magazine names 31 Illinois companies among best places to work
Reporting by Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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By Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register | USA TODAY Network
