The Largest Company in Each State

The largest company in each state varies widely by industry and revenue — from energy conglomerates in Texas to retail giants in Washington. Rankings are drawn from Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000 data, measuring revenue at the company's primary headquarters state. Some results are surprising: Costco outranks Microsoft in Washington, and Chevron outranks Apple in California.

These rankings measure the largest company headquartered in each state by annual revenue. Revenue is the most consistent metric for comparing businesses across industries — it reflects the total money a business brings in before expenses, regardless of whether the business is profitable.

The primary data sources are the Fortune 500 and the Forbes Global 2000. Fortune 500 rankings cover the largest U.S. companies by revenue, using figures from SEC filings for public companies. The Forbes Global 2000 ranks the largest public companies worldwide by sales, profits, assets, and market value. Both lists are updated annually.

A few important boundaries: subsidiaries and government entities are excluded. A company counts for the state where it maintains its primary headquarters, not where it operates the most locations. Private companies are often excluded from these rankings because their revenue figures aren't publicly verified through SEC disclosures — which means some states' true largest businesses may not appear on public lists at all.

Revenue figures below are drawn from the most recent Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000 data available, reflecting fiscal year 2023 results. The range runs from roughly $1 billion in smaller states to $476 billion at the top. Energy, retail, and financial services dominate the list — but the state-by-state breakdown shows real variation.

Northeast

• Connecticut: Cigna Group — health insurance and managed care
• Maine: Hannaford Bros. (subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize) — grocery retail; note that as a subsidiary, the largest independently headquartered public company may vary by source
• Massachusetts: General Electric (GE) — industrial conglomerate and aerospace
• New Hampshire: PC Connection — IT products and services
• New Jersey: Johnson & Johnson — pharmaceuticals and consumer health
• New York: Walmart (operations) / JPMorgan Chase (HQ) — JPMorgan Chase is the largest company headquartered in New York by revenue
• Pennsylvania: Comcast — telecommunications and media
• Rhode Island: CVS Health — pharmacy and health services
• Vermont: GlobalFoundries — semiconductor manufacturing

Southeast

• Alabama: Protective Life — insurance and financial services
• Arkansas: Walmart — retail; the largest company in the U.S. by revenue is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas
• Florida: World Fuel Services — fuel logistics and distribution
• Georgia: Home Depot — home improvement retail
• Kentucky: Humana — health insurance
• Louisiana: Entergy — electric utility
• Mississippi: Sanderson Farms — poultry production
• North Carolina: Lowe's — home improvement retail
• South Carolina: Denny's (operations) / Sonoco Products — Sonoco Products is the largest publicly headquartered company in South Carolina
• Tennessee: FedEx — logistics and delivery
• Virginia: Amazon — e-commerce and cloud computing; Amazon's HQ2 is in Arlington, Virginia
• West Virginia: Mylan (now Viatris) — pharmaceuticals

Midwest

• Illinois: Walgreens Boots Alliance — pharmacy retail
• Indiana: Eli Lilly — pharmaceuticals
• Iowa: Principal Financial Group — financial services and insurance
• Kansas: Spirit AeroSystems — aerospace components
• Michigan: General Motors — automotive manufacturing
• Minnesota: UnitedHealth Group — health insurance and services
• Missouri: Centene Corporation — managed care
• Nebraska: Berkshire Hathaway — diversified holding company
• North Dakota: MDU Resources — utility and construction services
• Ohio: Walmart (distribution) / Cardinal Health (HQ) — Cardinal Health is the largest company headquartered in Ohio
• South Dakota: Sanford Health — health system; as a nonprofit, revenue figures are estimated
• Wisconsin: Northwestern Mutual — insurance and financial services

Southwest

• Arizona: Freeport-McMoRan — copper and gold mining
• New Mexico: PNM Resources — electric utility
• Oklahoma: ONEOK — natural gas distribution
• Texas: ExxonMobil — oil and gas; Texas is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other state

West

• Alaska: GCI Liberty — telecommunications
• California: Chevron — oil and gas; Chevron's revenue outpaces Apple's in California despite Apple's higher market capitalization
• Colorado: Arrow Electronics — electronic components distribution
• Hawaii: Hawaiian Electric Industries — electric utility
• Idaho: Micron Technology — semiconductor manufacturing
• Montana: Glacier Bancorp — banking
• Nevada: MGM Resorts International — hospitality and gaming
• Oregon: Nike — athletic footwear and apparel
• Utah: Intermountain Healthcare — health system; as a nonprofit, revenue figures are estimated
• Washington: Costco — retail warehouse clubs; Costco's revenue exceeds Microsoft's in Washington State
• Wyoming: True Companies — oil and gas; private company, revenue estimated

Mid-Atlantic and other states

• Delaware: DuPont de Nemours — specialty chemicals and materials
• Maryland: Lockheed Martin — defense and aerospace
• Washington D.C. area: Danaher — science and technology instruments (headquartered in Washington, D.C.)

Note: rankings shift year to year as revenues change and companies relocate headquarters. Always check the current Fortune 500 or Forbes Global 2000 list for the most up-to-date figures.

Energy, retail, and health care account for the majority of top-ranked companies across all 50 states. That pattern reflects where the largest revenue pools sit in the U.S. economy — not necessarily where the most businesses are started or where employment is highest.

Energy companies dominate in Texas, California, Oklahoma, and Louisiana — states with significant oil, gas, or utility infrastructure. Retail giants lead in Arkansas (Walmart), Washington (Costco), and North Carolina (Lowe's). Health care and insurance companies top the list in Minnesota (UnitedHealth Group), Rhode Island (CVS Health), and Kentucky (Humana). Technology companies are less dominant by revenue than by market capitalization — which is why Chevron outranks Apple in California and why Microsoft doesn't top Washington State's list.

Revenue and market cap measure different things. A company with $200 billion in annual revenue moves more money through the economy than a company with a $2 trillion market cap but $100 billion in revenue. Both metrics matter — they just answer different questions.

Texas, New York, and California consistently host the most Fortune 500 headquarters. Texas leads with more Fortune 500 companies than any other state — a position driven by its energy sector, favorable tax environment, and the relocation of major corporations from higher-tax states over the past decade.

New York's count is anchored by financial services — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs all maintain primary headquarters there. California's list spans technology, energy, and entertainment. States with smaller economies — Wyoming, Vermont, Montana — typically have 1 Fortune 500 company or none at all.

Fortune 500 count per state is a useful proxy for corporate density, but it doesn't capture the full picture. Many states have large private employers — agricultural cooperatives, regional health systems, family-owned distributors — that don't appear on public rankings because they don't file with the SEC.

The state where the largest company is headquartered isn't necessarily the best state to start a business — but the industry that dominates a state's economy does shape the environment you'd be building in. Understanding the economic landscape of your state is useful context before you form an entity.

If you're in Texas, you're operating in an economy shaped by energy and logistics. If you're in Minnesota, health care and financial services set the tone for B2B relationships, hiring, and local investment. That context matters when you're figuring out your market, your suppliers, and who your potential customers are.

Most entrepreneurs don't compete with the largest company in their state — they build businesses that serve the same customers, supply the same industries, or fill gaps the giants leave behind. Knowing who the dominant players are is the first step in figuring out where you fit.