The largest employers in Minnesota: the state's list, and why health care dominates it

This page is for job seekers, economic developers, journalists and B2B sellers who want to know who employs the most people in Minnesota. It uses the list the state itself publishes, explains what it measures, and adds federal job counts and what the biggest employers report in their own filings.

Minnesota's 30 largest employers

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the state's labor market information agency, publishes Minnesota's Largest Employers in its top-companies and employers file. The figures are Minnesota employees, from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's list of October 16, 2025; DEED last updated the file on March 17, 2026.

DEED's list runs to 60 entries; ranks 31 to 40 include the University of Minnesota Physicians, Ebenezer Senior Living, Thomson Reuters, the City of Minneapolis, Ameriprise Financial, General Mills and Ramsey County. One quirk to know if you use the full file: Hunt Electric, ranked 58th, is listed with 2,603 employees, more than several entries above it, so treat ranks near the bottom as approximate.

What the list shows

Health care is Minnesota's employment backbone in every data set. In the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, health care and social assistance was the largest private industry in 2025, with 533,801 jobs, ahead of manufacturing (315,307) and retail (279,777). Several of the biggest headquarters employ only part of their workforce in the state: UnitedHealth Group reports more than 390,000 employees company-wide in its 10-K, but 18,400 in Minnesota on DEED's list.

Minnesota jobs by type of employer

The QCEW counts every job covered by unemployment insurance. Minnesota's 2025 annual averages:

The Census Bureau's County Business Patterns, which covers private establishments, counted 154,455 Minnesota establishments with 2,803,410 employees in 2023. Only 205 had 1,000 or more employees and 272 had 500 to 999, so the employers on DEED's list are a very small group of very large organizations. For the companies ranked by revenue instead, see the biggest companies in Minnesota.

Selling to Minnesota's largest employers

Each group on the list buys differently:

1. Health systems buy clinical products through group purchasing organizations and value analysis committees, and non-clinical services (staffing, facilities, IT, workforce programs) through their own supply chain and HR teams. Our guide to selling to hospitals covers the process.
2. Government and public education buy through posted solicitations and approved vendor lists, so registration with the state's or county's supplier portal comes first.
3. Companies like Target, U.S. Bancorp and 3M run central procurement from their headquarters, often for sites nationwide, with security and compliance reviews for any vendor touching data or employees.

Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are fictional; the employer figures are from DEED's list.

Northfield EAP (northfieldeap.example) provides an employee assistance program priced per employee per month and wants the companies on the list.

• The 12 companies in the top 30 employ 153,386 Minnesotans.
• It drops Walmart, Wells Fargo and Amazon, whose SEC filings give headquarters in Arkansas, California and Washington, leaving nine with 108,109 Minnesota employees.
• At $2.50 per employee per month, a single 10,000-employee account is worth $300,000 a year, so it needs only one or two wins.
• It targets the head of benefits or total rewards at each, and times outreach to the spring, before benefits for the following year are decided.

Bebop can find the benefits leaders at each of the nine and draft outreach that reflects what each company says about its workforce in its 10-K.

Subject: Support for [Company]'s [number] Minnesota employees

Hi [first name],

With [number] people in Minnesota, [Company] is large enough that small gaps in mental health support show up in absence and turnover numbers.

We run an employee assistance program for Minnesota employers, with counselors in the Twin Cities, Rochester and Duluth, priced per employee. Could I send a one-page comparison against what you offer today, ahead of next year's benefits decisions?

[Your name], Northfield EAP

Next step: see how big organizations split their buying in enterprise account research.