Business Visualizations
America’s Most Valuable Companies Ranked by Profit per Employee
Ever wonder how much money major corporations make per employee? Profit Per Employee (PPE) is determined by dividing the company’s profit by the company’s quantity of full-time employees. The most profitable companies may not necessarily be the most profitable by number of employees—and vice versa. Whenever the economy is uncertain, this formula is usually one of the metrics companies will monitor to determine the efficiency and productivity of their staff. Using data over profit and company size from 2023, our team at The Chartistry has ranked the top 50 companies with the highest profit per worker.
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With a profit of nearly $2 million for each of their 9,500 employees, ConocoPhillips ranks first for highest profit per employee by quite the large margin. ConocoPhillips, an American oil and gas producer, saw a total profit almost $18.7 billion in 2023. Since oil and gas are two of the most valuable energy commodities in the world, it is not uncommon for an energy company to rank high in terms of PPE since their net profit is typically quite expansive. Of the top 50 companies with the highest profit for every employee, six of them can be categorized under the energy sector.
Coming in second place, Prologis is an investment trust company that saw a total profit of $3.4 billion in 2023. This profit was divided by their 2,466 employees to end with a profit of $1.36 million per employee.
In third, there is the tobacco company Altria Group. Altria Group’s 2023 profit of $5.8 billion was divided by 6,300 employees to result in a profit per employee of $915 thousand. Tobacco is yet another commodity product, with only one other tobacco company making the top 50 ranking.
Exxon Mobil is another oil and gas company with high profit per employee, coming in fourth place. Out of their profit of $55.7 million in 2023, their 62,000 employees averaged a profit of $899 thousand each.
Rounding out the top 5 companies is Chevron, the third oil and gas energy company in the top companies by profit per employee. With a total profit of $35.3 million, their PPE comes out to $809 thousand for each of their 43,846 employees.
Some companies land rank in both the most profitable in the world overall as well as in profit per worker. Apple, for example, brought in a 2023 profit of nearly a $100 billion. The company itself is valued at a total of $2.1 trillion. They managed a PPE of $609 thousand for their 164,000 employees, making them seventh among all companies.
Why is Profit per Employee Important?
For every company with an impressive profit per employee, there are tens, hundreds, even thousands of people working at the front line and behind the scenes to keep operations running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. PPE, not to be confused with Revenue per Employee, is a way for the company to measure the performance and productivity of the average employee in any given workforce to judge their added value. In other words, a way to know if their investment in hiring, retaining, and training their employees returned desirable results. Of course, it isn’t and shouldn’t be the only method to judge the value of an employee. When used in combination with other metrics, however, it can be a helpful tool to see the what employees have brought to the company.
For the majority of situations, a healthy profit per employee will be a good indicator of the health of the company at large. It shows that the business is properly maximizing the streamlining of their operations and utilizing the talent of each employee. This performance can mean that an underwhelming PPE may lead to cost-cutting measures for the company. Oftentimes, this is in the form of employee layoffs in areas that may not be contributing to the overall profit.
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The Profit per Employee of the Largest Companies in the U.S. By Market Cap (The Full List)
Which corporations have the highest revenue per employee? Companies that are able to do more with less:
Rank | Name | Type of Company | 2023 Profits (in Millions) | Number of Employees in 2023 | Profit per Employee in 2023 |
1 | ConocoPhillips | Energy | $18,680 | 9,500 | $1,966,316 |
2 | Prologis | Real Estate Investment Trust | $3,364.9 | 2,466 | $1,364,517 |
3 | Altria Group | Tobacco | $5,764 | 6,300 | $914,921 |
4 | Exxon Mobil | Energy | $55,740 | 62,000 | $899,032 |
5 | Chevron | Energy | $35,465 | 43,846 | $808,854 |
6 | Vertex Pharmaceuticals | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $3,322 | 4,800 | $692,083 |
7 | Apple | Technology, Consumer Goods | $99,803 | 164,000 | $608,555 |
8 | Broadcom | Semiconductor | $11,495 | 20,000 | $574,750 |
9 | Visa | Financial | $14,957 | 26,500 | $564,415 |
10 | Pfizer | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $31,372 | 83,000 | $377,976 |
11 | Regeneron | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $4,338.4 | 11,851 | $366,079 |
12 | Netflix | Video Streaming Services | $4,491.9 | 12,800 | $350,930 |
13 | Mastercard | Financial | $9,930 | 29,900 | $332,107 |
14 | Microsoft | Technology | $72,738 | 221,000 | $329,131 |
15 | Alphabet | Technology | $59,972 | 190,234 | $315,254 |
16 | Airbnb | Travel | $1,893 | 6,811 | $277,933 |
17 | American Tower | Real Estate Investment Trust | $1,765.8 | 6,391 | $276,295 |
18 | NextEra Energy | Energy | $4,147 | 15,300 | $271,046 |
19 | Gilead Sciences | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $4,592 | 17,000 | $270,118 |
20 | Meta Platforms | Technology | $23,200 | 86,482 | $268,264 |
21 | Texas Instruments | Semiconductor | $8,749 | 33,000 | $265,121 |
22 | BlackRock | Financial | $5,178 | 19,800 | $261,515 |
23 | Amgen | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $6,552 | 25,200 | $260,000 |
24 | Qualcomm | Semiconductor | $12,936 | 51,000 | $253,647 |
25 | AbbVie | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $11,836 | 50,000 | $236,720 |
26 | Goldman Sachs Group | Financial | $11,261 | 48,500 | $232,186 |
27 | Merck | Health (Including Animals) | $14,519 | 68,000 | $213,515 |
28 | Union Pacific | Railroad | $6,998 | 33,179 | $210,917 |
29 | Charles Schwab | Financial | $7,183 | 35,300 | $203,484 |
30 | Applied Materials | Semiconductor | $6,525 | 33,000 | $197,727 |
31 | Bristol-Myers Squibb | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $6,327 | 34,300 | $184,461 |
32 | Verizon Communications | Telecommunications | $21,256 | 117,100 | $181,520 |
33 | Nvidia | Technology | $4,368 | 26,196 | $166,743 |
34 | Adobe | Technology | $4,756 | 29,239 | $162,659 |
35 | Eli Lilly | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $6,244.8 | 39,000 | $160,123 |
36 | Zoetis | Health (Including Animals) | $2,114 | 13,800 | $153,188 |
37 | Booking Holdings | Travel | $3,058 | 21,492 | $142,286 |
38 | Cisco Systems | Technology | $11,812 | 83,300 | $141,801 |
39 | Procter & Gamble | Consumer goods | $14,742 | 106,000 | $139,075 |
40 | Morgan Stanley | Financial | $11,029 | 82,427 | $133,803 |
41 | JPMorgan Chase | Financial | $37,676 | 293,723 | $128,271 |
42 | Southern Company | Energy | $3,524 | 27,562 | $127,857 |
43 | Bank of America | Financial | $27,528 | 216,823 | $126,961 |
44 | Johnson & Johnson | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $17,941 | 152,700 | $117,492 |
45 | Coca-Cola | Consumer Goods | $9,542 | 82,500 | $115,661 |
46 | Philip Morris International | Tobacco | $9,048 | 79,800 | $113,383 |
47 | Analog Devices | Semiconductor | $2,748.6 | 24,450 | $112,417 |
48 | Intuitive Surgical | Biopharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical, and/or Biotechnology | $1,322.3 | 12,120 | $109,101 |
49 | Tesla | Automotive, Energy | $12,556 | 127,855 | $98,205 |
50 | American Express | Financial | $7,514 | 77,300 | $97,206 |
Business Visualizations
The Biggest Employers by Industry
There are more than 30 million businesses in the U.S. — but some of those companies employ far more workers than others. Giants like Walmart and Amazon have more than a million employees working on developing, marketing, transporting and selling their products everyday. Meanwhile, lesser-known companies in industries you may not be as familiar with also employ a significant amount of our workforce.
Using Fortune 500 data, our team at The Chartistry identified the largest employers in every industry, including retail, food, health care, real estate and many more (we included a whopping 75 industries total).
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Who is the largest employer in America?
Technically, the largest employer in the U.S. is the federal government. But if we’re talking about the company that employs the most people, Walmart takes the cake.
Since Walmart’s first store opened in 1962, the company has grown to establish more than 11,500 stores globally to serve more than 260 million weekly shoppers in 28 countries, according to the company’s site. It’s no surprise that the retailer requires a lot of manpower. Walmart has 2,100,000 employees, and is the only one on our list that employs more than 2 million people.
Who else are America’s biggest employers?
Walmart may offer up the most jobs in the U.S.,but there are plenty of other companies with thousands of employees headed to work everyday. Some of the giants on the list of companies with the most employees in every industry are also among the largest U.S. employers in general.
Amazon, which started in Jeff Bezos’ garage in 1994 as an online bookseller, has grown up to make its mark around the world. There’s a good chance you’ve shopped online via the company, watched its streamer or walked past an Amazon retail store or fulfillment center. Amazon may have started with a solo founder, but it now employs 1,525,000 people.
Home Depot is another retail heavyweight. Founded in 1978 as a hardware store, the company now boasts more than 2,300 stores across North America. But offering up all that home improvement requires a lot of hands on deck: The company has 463,100 employees. That makes it the highest employer in one category of specialty retailers, but TJX, with 349,000 employees, is the largest employer in the apparel-specific specialty retailer category.
In the mail, package and freight delivery industry, you can probably guess who employs the most people. It’s FedEx, which was just an idea in 1965 when its eventual founder Frederick W. Smith wrote a paper at Yale University on the potential of a new way to get time-sensitive shipments to recipients (he received an average grade, according to the company’s website). Since then, the company makes around 14.5 million deliveries each day thanks to its 446,400 employees.
UnitedHealth Group also made our list, which makes sense, seeing as its the largest health insurance company in the U.S. Parent company of United Healthcare, the company was founded in 1977. Nowadays, it employs 440,000 people.
Curious which food and drug store is the largest employer? That would be Kroger, which had its start in 1883 when Barney Kroger invested his life savings of $372 to open a single grocery store. More than 140 years later, Kroger is the nation’s largest grocer with nearly 2,800 stores in 35 states and 414,000 employees. But if we’re talking specifically about food services, latte lovers’ favorite place, Starbucks, is the largest employer, with 381,000 employees. Looking specifically at the food consumer products industry, PepsiCo — which owns brands like Lay’s, Doritos, Gatorade, Quaker and, of course, Pepsi — is the largest employer with 318,000 employees.
The travel industry also requires tons of workers. American Airlines Group, which offers thousands of flights daily in more than 60 countries, is the largest employer in the airline industry with 132,100 people. Hilton Worldwide Holdings, meanwhile, has 178,000 employees to help run its hotels, casinos and resorts.
In the entertainment industry, a very familiar name earns the title for largest employer with its 199,125 workers: Walt Disney.
The largest U.S. employers in each industry
Here are the largest companies by employees in every industry — from hotels and airlines to pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
Industry |
Company |
Number of Employees |
General Merchandisers |
Walmart |
2,100,000 |
Internet Services and Retailing |
Amazon |
1,525,000 |
Specialty Retailers: Other |
Home Depot |
463,100 |
Mail, Package, and Freight Delivery |
FedEx |
446,400 |
Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care |
UnitedHealth Group |
440,000 |
Information Technology Services |
Concentrix |
440,000 |
Food and Drug Stores |
Kroger |
414,000 |
Insurance: Property and Casualty (Stock) |
Berkshire Hathaway |
396,500 |
Food Services |
Starbucks |
381,000 |
Specialty Retailers: Apparel |
TJX |
349,000 |
Food Consumer Products |
PepsiCo |
318,000 |
Commercial Banks |
JPMorganChase |
309,926 |
Health Care: Medical Facilities |
HCA Healthcare |
265,000 |
Diversified Outsourcing Services |
Aramark |
262,550 |
Health Care: Pharmacy and Other Services |
CVS Health |
259,500 |
Semiconductors and Other Electronic Components Equipment |
Jabil |
236,000 |
Computer Software |
Microsoft |
221,000 |
Entertainment |
Walt Disney |
199,125 |
Motor Vehicles & Parts |
Lear |
186,600 |
Telecommunications |
Comcast |
186,000 |
Aerospace & Defense |
RTX |
185,000 |
Hotels, Casinos, Resorts |
Hilton Worldwide Holdings |
178,000 |
Computers, Office Equipment |
Apple |
161,000 |
Food Production |
Tyson Foods |
139,000 |
Airlines |
American Airlines Group |
132,100 |
Pharmaceuticals |
Johnson & Johnson |
131,900 |
Real Estate |
CBRE Group |
130,000 |
Industrial Machinery |
General Electric |
125,000 |
Scientific, Photographic, and Control Equipment |
Thermo Fisher Scientific |
122,000 |
Medical Products and Equipment |
Abbott Laboratories |
114,000 |
Construction and Farm Machinery |
Caterpillar |
113,200 |
Transportation and Logistics |
GXO Logistics |
109,000 |
Household and Personal Products |
Procter & Gamble |
107,000 |
Network and Other Communications Equipment |
Amphenol |
95,000 |
Chemicals |
3M |
85,000 |
Diversified Financials |
Marsh & McLennan |
85,000 |
Apparel |
Nike |
83,700 |
Tobacco |
Philip Morris International |
82,700 |
Beverages |
Coca-Cola |
79,100 |
Advertising, Marketing |
Omnicom Group |
75,900 |
Wholesalers: Food and Grocery |
Sysco |
71,750 |
Insurance: Property and Casualty (Mutual) |
State Farm Insurance |
65,054 |
Petroleum Refining |
Exxon Mobil |
61,500 |
Financial Data Services |
Fidelity National Information Services |
60,000 |
Wholesalers: Diversified |
Genuine Parts |
60,000 |
Electronics, Electrical Equipment |
Whirlpool |
59,000 |
Oil And Gas Equipment, Services |
Baker Hughes |
58,000 |
Packaging And Containers |
WestRock |
56,100 |
Securities |
Edward Jones |
54,000 |
Engineering and Construction |
Quanta Services |
52,500 |
Home Equipment, Furnishings |
Stanley Black & Decker |
50,500 |
Waste Management |
Waste Management |
48,000 |
Wholesalers: Health Care |
McKesson |
48,000 |
Insurance: Life, Health (Stock) |
MetLife |
45,000 |
Trucking, Truck Leasing |
J.B. Hunt Transport Services |
34,718 |
Toys, Sporting Goods |
Mattel |
33,000 |
Railroads |
Union Pacific |
32,973 |
Metals |
Nucor |
32,000 |
Automotive Retailing, Services |
CarMax |
30,621 |
Building Materials, Glass |
Builders FirstSource |
29,000 |
Utilities: Gas and Electric |
PG&E |
28,010 |
Wholesalers: Electronics and Office Equipment |
TD Synnex |
28,000 |
Temporary Help |
Manpower Group |
27,900 |
Mining, Crude-Oil Production |
Freeport-McMoRan |
27,200 |
Equipment Leasing |
United Rentals |
26,300 |
Publishing, Printing |
News Corp. |
25,000 |
Miscellaneous |
Service Corporation International |
21,267 |
Transportation Equipment |
Polaris |
18,500 |
Energy |
NRG Energy |
18,131 |
Education |
Graham Holdings |
17,006 |
Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual) |
TIAA |
16,023 |
Pipelines |
Energy Transfer |
13,786 |
Homebuilders |
D.R. Horton |
13,450 |
Forest and Paper Products |
Domtar |
13,000 |
Shipping |
Kirby Corporation |
5,450 |
Don’t miss our other visuals (Chartistry Originals) that give insight into some of the biggest employers in the U.S, including our map of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in every state, breakdown of America’s most valuable companies ranked by profit per employee and original chart of everything owned by Apple.
Source:
Business Visualizations
Study Shows Us the Most Common Occupations by Age Group
Studying jobs by age groups provides insight into worker priorities and the impact of factors such as education, experience, and physical strength. The team at Qualtrics gathered data to create a graphic of the most common jobs held in different age categories using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to form their visualizations.
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Here are the most common jobs by age:
- 16–24: cashier
- 25–34: registered nurse
- 35–54: elementary or middle school teacher
- 55–64: sales worker or truck driver
- Over 65: farmer, rancher, or agricultural manager
- Any age group overall: customer service representative
The chart shows that the most common job is a customer service rep, which is understandable given the number of industries hiring for this position. It’s a job with diverse tasks encompassing customer experience and quality of interactions with the business. Customer service jobs typically don’t require more than a high school diploma, yet they pay an average annual salary of over $60,000.
We can see from the charts that cashier and server jobs are most common among the youngest demographics. This is likely due to the low pay and hours spent on your feet. It’s an entry job for many people who grow to move on to different positions or career paths as they age and change priorities. While that’s not always the case, many servers and cashiers move on from the role in search of higher pay and less physically demanding work.
These same individuals may go on to pursue careers as teachers and nurses, if our data is any indication. These jobs require specialized education but offer higher pay, and there is a demand for these positions. It’s no surprise that many people are building lifelong careers in nursing and teaching. As for people who keep working past retirement age, farmers and ranchers took the top spot. This work is often physically demanding, but the businesses are usually generational, meaning older people get help from their descendants and stay involved with a business close to their heart.
Employers can make use of data like this, as they generally want to avoid job-hopping employees. Looking at these statistics, we can infer many reasons why someone may leave a job. Employers can address this by offering higher wages, more flexible work styles and arrangements, and an improved employee experience. Most workers seek a stable job with fair compensation for the amount of work and education required. We also note that many blue-collar jobs are represented on this list, including construction workers, janitors, and truck drivers, with fewer white-collar jobs listed. Many people work essential jobs that help us stay healthy, fed, and stocked with goods.
Business Visualizations
Chart Visualizes the Price of the Ford Mustang Every Year Since Debut
The Ford Mustang is a legendary American muscle car that symbolizes the culture of open-road freedom. The Ford Motor Company designed the vehicle to embody the European sports car, but with a price point that’s more attainable for middle-class Americans. The idea was a massive success. The first Mustang debuted in 1964, and the Mustang enjoys a legacy and loyal fans to this day. The team at Speedway Motors celebrates the Mustang with an illustrated graphic depicting each Mustang iteration, along with the price at release and the price adjusted for inflation.
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Through this detailed and illustrated chart, we can see the evolution of this vehicle. The first Mustang Hardtop was priced at $2,368, which is $24,3444 in today’s market, emphasizing its affordability in the world of muscle cars. While the Mustang was a gamble, it proved to be a phenomenon and sold over 100,000 cars in its first four months. The Mustangs’ popularity persisted throughout the ‘60s, and Ford focused on improved performance and power, which meant prices rose. This trend continued until the early ‘70s gas crisis when Ford had to adjust to new consumer demands for better fuel mileage. They designed the Mustang II with a smaller chassis and less muscle to adjust to the changes in the economy.
The Mustang’s popularity hit a dip in the early ‘80s, and the Camaro almost outsold it. Ford innovated and adjusted again with the release of the Fox Mustang, designed to be versatile as a day-to-day muscle car. As technology advanced into the ‘90s, Ford introduced popular new features like a V8 engine and SN-95 chassis, which we can see featured in the Mustang GT.
Today’s Mustang is loaded with the most innovative features, designed for performance and comfort. The current model is the Dark Horse Premium, which sells for $69,375. While it’s a flashy and popular car, it lacks some of the performance boosts of past models, yet the price is high.
The Mustangs’ prices have risen a lot over the decades, for several key reasons besides inflation. First, safety standards have increased with innovative technology making drivers safer. Some safety features are required, while others are sought-after bonuses that drivers are looking for. A key aspect of a muscle car is the power and performance. Modern technology advances the performance of the vehicle, but that engineering comes at a higher price point. Material costs have advanced as well, from labor to raw materials. Cars, in general, are now more expensive to build.
The team’s chart is a true testament to the power of visual data. Through the images and price points, we can see changes in the Mustang reflecting cultural and economic shifts, creating a fascinating timeline of an icon among automobiles. Do you have a favorite Mustang model? What do you think about the price changes over time?
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