Google is the top company in the United States for compensation and benefits, according to Glassdoor's annual employee survey. Google is followed by some other familiar (and some not so familiar) names.

Glassdoor noted that nearly 40 percent of American workers do not believe they receive fair pay, which may add fuel to the debate over perceived income inequality in the United States.

The tech sector had the most names on the list, with 12 companies, and biotech/pharmaceuticals were second with three companies.

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No fast-food company made the list, and Costco was the only retailer named.

Many of the companies on the list were newer names that have launched since the advent of the digital age. Very few of the biggest traditional brands, except for Chevron and Procter & Gamble, made the grade. Conspicuously absent were American icons like General Motors, IBM, General Electric and Exxon Mobil.

Scott Dobroski, Glassdoor community expert, told USA Today that good salaries are just part of the compensation puzzle that attracts and keeps the best employees.

"There are other pieces all employers can evaluate for their own company and do their best to offer employees. This can include offering bonuses, flexible schedules, more paid time off, the option to work remotely, health benefits beyond general health and dental, stock options and more," he said.

Offering up a transparent compensation structure is also an employee motivator, according to Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor career and workplace expert, who said an absence of secrecy helps improve productivity.

Glassdoor's top companies for pay and benefits, based on its survey of U.S. workers, are:

1. Google
2. Costco
3. Facebook
4. Adobe
5. Epic Systems
6. Intuit
7. USAA
8. Chevron
9. Salesforce.com
10. Monsanto
11. Genentech
12. Kaiser Permanente
13. Qualcomm
14. Riverbed Technology
15. Verizon
16. Vmware
17. T-Mobile
18. Microsoft
19. Amgen
20. Pfizer
21. Southern California Edison
22. Orbitz
23. Procter & Gamble
24. Union Pacific
25. eBay

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) maintains a World Factbook that uses the Gini index to measure the degree of inequality in distribution of household income by country.

The more nearly equal a country's income, the lower its Gini index, while the more unequal its income distribution, the higher its Gini index.

On the CIA's most recent ranking of 140 countries, the United States was listed at number 40 for income distribution — sandwiched between no. 39 Uruguay and no. 41 Philippines.

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