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

In some states, the main employers are clustered in one or two major cities. But in America's Dairyland, multiple cities house the largest employers in Wisconsin. In fact, each of the top five employers on this list is located in a different city.

The state's biggest city, Milwaukee, has six of the 25 largest employers in Wisconsin, but appears sixth on the list. Manufacturing is at the heart of Wisconsin's economy, however, education, home goods, medical, and the headquarters of a familiar department store, Kohl's, are who hire the most workforce.

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Here are the top five employers in Wisconsin:

1. University of Wisconsin-Madison: At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where the most popular majors are biology, economics, and political science, workers are nearly 15,000 strong. The college ranks in the 90th percentile on Glassdoor for approval of their leadership. It’s located in Madison, which is a college town through and through.

2. Menard Inc.: This family-owned company got its start in 1960, and their home improvement stores dot the landscape in 14 states. They employ over 10,000 people in Wisconsin, and according to Madison.com, owner John Menard "is the wealthiest man in Wisconsin ... [and] is also involved in motorsports as a partner in Robby Gordon Motorsports." He's also the father of NASCAR driver Paul Menard.

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3. Epic Systems Corporation: Ranking third in job opportunities is Epic, a company that makes software for the medical industry. They describe their expertise as "integrated software [that] spans clinical, access and revenue functions" for medical groups, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations. Based in Verona, Epic employs nearly 7,000 people and serves just about 300 customers.

4. Thedacare Inc.: Providing over 6,000 jobs for Wisconsinites, Thedacare is comprised of 35 clinics and seven hospitals. They serve 235,000 patients in 14 different counties, and have been working for over 100 years in the Appleton area. Their focus is to streamline processes in healthcare to save time and money for both patients and healthcare providers.

5. Kohl's Corporation: Technically, this employer is based in a suburb of Milwaukee, but officially, its headquartered in Menomonee Falls. Kohl's is the second-largest department store in terms of retail sales after Macy's, and was founded by the Kohl family, who actually started it as a supermarket in 1946. Now, Kohl's comes in as one of the top employers in Wisconsin. Across the United States, there are 730 Kohl’s stores.

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