Top 25 Employer List for 2022

Click here to view the Top 25 list for 2022.

Since the mid-1980s the Community Development Department (CDD) has collected data to assemble a list of the 25 largest employers in the city. CDD typically collects the data via a voluntary survey sent to employers starting in August each year. The term “employee” can mean different things to different employers. To ensure a reliable basis for comparison across organizations, the Top 25 counts Full Time Equivalents (FTEs). A person working full time between 35 and 40 hours per week counts as one FTE (or one employee). Therefore, a person employed half time is 0.5 FTEs and a person working one full day a week is 0.2 FTEs (based on a 5 day work week).

The Top 25 list provides insight into the overall economic climate in Cambridge. A wide range of employers reported more than 61,000 workers, representing over 40% of the Cambridge workforce reported by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The three largest employers in the city are Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals/Millenium. Nine of the top employers are pharmaceutical companies or research institutes directly engaged in biotechnology, drug development, or genetics research. These employers reported 16,884 workers.

Several employers have appeared on the Top 25 list since its first year, 1986. Harvard University and MIT have shared the first two positions on every list since it began; in all but two years, Harvard has been the City’s largest employer. The City of Cambridge has often ranked third, but dropped to fifth place this year behind Takeda Pharmaceuticals/Millenium and the start-up incubator Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC). Mt. Auburn Hospital and Draper Laboratories have also been members every year since 1986.

Looking beyond the “regulars,” the Top 25 reveals more. Over the years 68 different employers have appeared on the listing, after taking into account name changes and corporate mergers. For 2022, nine companies listed are in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Among them are Cambridge stalwarts such as Biogen, Novartis, Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer as well as younger firms Moderna and Alnylam.  Including employers who otherwise support the biotechnology cluster—researchers at MIT, the Broad Institute and start-up support at the CIC and The Engine—thirteen of the Top 25 employers are involved in the biotech cluster.

While Cambridge is known as a hotbed of internet and software innovation, much of that work occurs at smaller firms. Still, four of the Top 25 fall in this sector: Akamai Technologies, Hubspot, Google, and CarGurus. The CIC also lends support to many internet startups. Finally, the Top 25 includes a diverse set of eight employers ranging from electronics and heath care technology (Philips North America) to health care delivery (Cambridge Health Alliance, Mt. Auburn Hospital) to consultants (Forrester Research) to research Institutes (Draper Laboratories) and encompassing the educational services firm EF Education First and the Federal Government.

The Top 25 list demonstrates the range, strength and capacity for economic growth in Cambridge, explaining the high level of confidence in its future.

For More Information

For more information please contact Cliff Cook. Senior Planning Information Manager, at 617/349-4656 or ccook@cambridgema.gov.