With one in three individuals diagnosed with cancer during their lifetimes, curing the disease is among the great aims of humanity. At the American Cancer Society, that quest is more than a dream—it’s a reality that employees pursue, day in and day out.
“So many of us have been personally affected by cancer, and we are highly motivated by our vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone,” says Shane Jacobson, CEO of the society.
That mission runs deep throughout the organization. As Kyle DeLeon, senior operations manager of state and legal advocacy at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network sees it: “Most people at large organizations are bound together by profit margins or sales numbers. We’re bound by a commitment to a mission and a cause”—a calling that has helped the American Cancer Society land among America's Dream Employers 2026.
To compile this second-annual ranking, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey 10,000 college students in the United States and 140,000 U.S.-based employees at companies across all sectors that employ at least 1,000 people in the country. The students were asked which employers they considered to be dream employers, and were then asked to rate how excited they would be to receive an offer from the company. Student participants were also asked how appealing the employer was based on criteria including growth opportunities, quality of work, compensation and company reputation.
Additionally, employee respondents were asked not only about their dream employers but also whether they would recommend their current employer or previous employer (within the past two years). Current workers were also asked to evaluate their employers based on such criteria as: salary, health benefits, professional development, workplace flexibility and the ability of employees to express ideas. Responses were then tallied and analyzed. Data from the past three years of Forbes-Statista employee surveys was also included, with data from current employees weighted more heavily than responses from past employees and older data. Ultimately, more than 266,000 data points were considered, and each employer was given a score. The 500 highest-scoring companies made our list of America’s Dream Employers 2026.
The resulting ranking reveals several trends. For one: Many students dream of going into medical fields to make a difference, as evidenced by numerous healthcare organizations at the top of our list, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (No. 2) in Memphis, Tennessee, Shriners Children’s (No. 10), headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic (No. 11)—all of which also ranked on our list of America’s Best Employers for Healthcare Professionals. Employees at healthcare organizations take pride in doing work that matters, says DeLinda Washington, senior vice-president of human resources and chief people officer at HealthPartners (No. 36) in Bloomington, Minnesota. This sense of purpose makes HealthPartners feel like “more than a job,” she says. “It’s a place where you can build a meaningful career.”
Similarly, during nursing school at Texas Christian University, Kiara DeWitt found her North Star: Cook Children's Health Care Systems (No. 72). “It was where all nurses aspired to work. You heard it all over campus,” DeWitt says. Her dreams were further affirmed as a student observer at the organization. “The energy, the culture, the teamwork—it was like nothing I had ever experienced before.” DeWitt is now a pediatric neurology registered nurse and a lead clinical educator at Cook Children's Medical Center, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Granted, the realities of a career in medicine can be tough. Years of schooling, heavy workloads, red tape and long hours are common. But for DeWitt, the collaborative team and mission-driven work at Cook Children’s have made every moment worth it. When thinking back on recent shifts, she says, “I remember long 12-hour days that seemed like six, simply because there was purpose in every second.”
The top employers on our list also demonstrated another quality: they blend dreams with reality, recognizing that while meaningful work matters, so do benefits and balance. The American Cancer Society (No. 49) has year-round “Flex Fridays,” ending the work week at noon, plus a two-week winter break. Over the past year, athenahealth (No. 19) expanded benefits to cover adoption and surrogacy expenses, along with the costs of shipping breast milk home for employees traveling for work, according to Brittany Podolak, chief people officer. “People tell us these benefits matter because they address real challenges in their lives, not just theoretical ones,” she says.
Beyond healthcare, our list reveals that many students and employees aspire to work in IT software and services. Five of the top 10 dream employers are from this industry: Microsoft (No. 3), Google (No. 4), IBM (No. 6), Nintendo (No. 8) and LinkedIn (No. 9).
Technology remains a dream sector despite widespread layoffs. In fact, as of early November, tech companies have announced 141,159 job cuts this year, which is a 17% jump from the 120,470 cuts announced through the same period last year, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement and career transition firm. This October alone, tech firms cut 33,281 jobs, up from 5,639 in September, in part due to AI integration that has led to company restructuring. But tech companies are still appealing to job candidates, possibly because the firms have worked to flip the negative discourse around AI into skill-building opportunities.
For example, Intuit (No. 29), the company behind products such as TurboTax, QuickBooks and Mailchimp, has provided employees with intense periods of focus on AI (known as AI learning sprints) to expand proficiency and adoption of artificial intelligence. Thousands of employees across functions participated in the sprint, says Zohra Yafai, vice-president of talent acquisition at Intuit. The company also encourages employees to expand their skills by participating in rotations or moving laterally into new roles, enabling them to “stretch their potential without leaving the company,” Yafai says. Indeed, Intuit fills more than a quarter of open roles with internal candidates. In addition, Yafai says, Intuit offers manager training programs that focus on goal-setting and providing feedback to employees to encourage growth among mid-level managers.
Salesforce (No. 15), for its part, aims to have 80% of employees trained in AI skills by year’s end, says Molly Q. Ford, vice-president of talent connection and engagement. The company created an AI-powered internal talent marketplace, which identifies new roles, assignments, upskilling opportunities and training across the organization. Since launching last year, “the response has been incredible, with 76% of Salesforce employees using the platform,” Ford says.
Salesforce even begins talent development before employees join the business. The talent acquisition team recruits students globally for internships and new graduate roles. Its Futureforce Tech Launchpad at its San Francisco headquarters gives high school students a 10-week introduction to software engineering and AI. “The goal is to prepare young people for future internships and careers in tech, whether at Salesforce or beyond,” Ford says.
Giving students such exposure to the workplace is a common theme among employers on our list. Two years ago, HealthPartners launched a college-to-career scholarship, offering up to $6,000 to students pursuing 2-year degrees while interning or working part-time at HealthPartners, according to Washington. And at athenahealth’s summer internship and co-op programs, students don’t “just observe from the sidelines,” Podolak says. “We bring people in to contribute and have impact.” That approach, in turn, benefits athenahealth. “When students have a genuine experience doing work that matters, they tell their peers,” Podolak says. Students become “informal ambassadors” on campus and help bring additional strong candidates into the company’s talent pipeline.
Sometimes, however, the realization of being at a dream employer materializes later on. Greg Moriates, vice-president of commercial real estate business management at JPMorgan Chase (No. 22), initially thought his stint at the company would be temporary. As time went on, he says, he was inspired by strong leadership and passionate co-workers who shared a vision to help local businesses overcome financial hurdles. One project that stands out: developing plans to help an entrepreneur scale from fashion designer to store owner. “Seeing her success and knowing we played a part in it was incredibly rewarding,” Moriates says.
What was meant to be a blip on the resume for Moriates turned into a 13-year career—and counting. “Now I can’t imagine working anywhere else,” he says.
For the full list of America’s Dream Employers, click here.
Methodology
To create America’s Dream Employers 2026 Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey 10,000 college students in the United States and 140,000 U.S.-based employees at companies across all sectors that employ at least 1,000 people in the country. The students were asked which employers they considered to be dream employers and were then asked to rate how excited they would be to receive an offer from the company. Student participants were also asked how appealing the employer was based on criteria including growth opportunities, quality of work, salary and company reputation.
Employee respondents were asked about their dream employers in addition to whether they would recommend their current employer or previous employer (within the past two years). Current workers were also asked to evaluate their companies based on such criteria as: wages, health benefits, professional development, working conditions and the ability of employees to express ideas.
Responses were then tallied and analyzed. Data from the past three years of Forbes-Statista employee surveys was included, with data from current employees weighted more heavily than responses from past employees and older data. Ultimately, more than 266,000 data points were considered, and each employer was given a score. The 500 companies with the highest scores made our list of America’s Dream Employers 2026.
To read more about how we make these lists, click here. For questions about this list, please email listdesk [at] forbes.com.