How TIME and Statista Determined America’s Best Private Companies of 2026

The first dimension, Employee Satisfaction, was assessed based on survey data from a sample of approximately 217,000 employees of U.S. companies over the past three years. The evaluation encompassed recommendations from current and former employees, as well as evaluations of employers across the dimensions of image, atmosphere, working conditions, salary, and equality by verified employees.

For the second dimension, Company Impact, Statista partnered with The Upright Project, a Helsinki-based technology company that quantifies the holistic impacts of companies and funds. The assessment is based on a company’s Net Impact, defined as the net sum of the societal costs and benefits it creates. Net Impact is measured across 19 subcategories in four pillars: society, knowledge, health, and environment.

Once the data was collected and evaluated, it was consolidated and weighted by a scoring model. The scores of both dimensions were combined on an equal percentage basis to form the final ranking score, with a maximum of 100 points. The 500 companies with the highest scores were awarded the title ‘America’s Best Private Companies 2026’ by TIME and Statista.