Jobs in West Virginia With the Largest Employers

Where should you look for jobs in West Virginia?

If you want to work for a large company with lots of growth potential and staying power, West Virginia is the place to be. Earlier this year, WorkForce West Virginia released its list of the 100 largest private employers in the state.

Walmart was once again named as the largest employer and has maintained that title since 1998. Rounding out the top five were: West Virginia United Health System, Charleston Area Medical Center, Kroger, and American Electric Power - all unchanged from their rankings last year.

Two companies that were not included in the top 10 during 2009 - Res-Care, Inc. and Mylan Pharmaceuticals - moved into the top 10 this year. Several other employers in the top 10 shifted positions between 2009 and 2010.

The complete top 10 list includes:

1. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc.
2. West Virginia United Health System
3. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc.
4. Kroger
5. American Electric Power
6. Consolidation Coal Company
7. Lowe's Home Centers, Inc.
8. St. Mary's Hospital
9. Res-Care, Inc.
10. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

These employers lost a total of only 143 workers during the last year, which is way less than the 17,000 jobs lost in the private sector as a whole. The top 100 employers lost a total of 4,400 jobs between 2009 and 2010.

More than half of the businesses listed among the top 100 employers this year increased in rank, while almost one-fourth of the businesses listed decreased in rank. A total of six businesses not found on last years list were included this year.

The list ranks companies based on their number of employees and includes businesses with single and multiple locations. Rankings were based on Q1 data from the Quarterly Contributions Report, which is available to the public by Q3 each year.