This year, TIME and Statista are launching the inaugural list of “America’s Best Private Companies 2026.” The research-based ranking is a comprehensive analysis aimed at identifying the best private companies in the United States. The ranking focuses on two key dimensions: Employee Satisfaction and Company Impact.

To be evaluated for the ranking, companies must be privately held (i.e., neither the company nor its parent is publicly traded). Non-profit organizations, hospitals, and universities are excluded from the ranking.

Methodology

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.