Top 5 Employers in Pennsylvania: Which Companies Have the Most Jobs?

Pennsylvania is home to 21 Fortune 500 companies, a list of America's largest companies. That's a respectable number of employers, trailing only a few others states. The biggest in Pennsylvania is the global pharmaceutical company, Amerisource Bergen, in Chesterbrook, near Philadelphia, according to Keystone Edge.

Number two is Philadelphia-based Comcast, a media and technology company, more familiar to consumers as a cable-television provider

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However, the presence of a corporate headquarters doesn't necessarily mean that the company is among the state's largest employers. We would expect to see service and government sectors dominate the list because they are labor intensive.

Indeed, that's what shows up on the list of the five largest employers:

1. Wal-Mart: No surprise there. Wal-Mart is the nation's largest private employer, with 1.3 million total in the U.S., of which about 48,000 are located in Pennsylvania, according to USA Today.

2. City of Philadelphia. The largest public sector employer in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia employs more than 25,000 people, as reported by the Office of Human Resources.

3. University of Pennsylvania. It has more than 17,000 employees, including about 4,555 faculty members for about 24,000 full- and part-time students.

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4. U.S. Postal Service. With more than 1,950 post offices in Pennsylvania, it's no wonder they employ so many.

5. Giant Eagle. The grocery chain has been in operation for more than 80 years. The chain was founded in Pittsburgh, and many of its 36,000 employees are found in Pennsylvania.

As for the other biggest employers in Pennsylvania, following in quick succession after Giant Eagle are Pennsylvania State University, the U.S. Department of Defense, School District of Philadelphia, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.

Interestingly enough, not until you get to No. 14 on the list do you come across another private sector employer: United Parcel Service, followed by PNC bank. If you aggregated federal and state agencies in Pennsylvania, they would swamp any private sector employer, including Wal-Mart.

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