LARGEST PRIVATE AND PUBLIC EMPLOYERS IN NEBRASKA
PRIVATE EMPLOYERS Number Employed
No. Business Name Nebraska Location 2003 2005
1 Tyson Foods, Inc. Dakota City, Lexington, etc. 11,012 11,000
2 Walmart Bellevue 7,400* 9,755
3 Union Pacific Corporation Omaha 6,749 7,200
4 Alegent Health Omaha 6,099 6,675
5 First Data Corp. Omaha 7,050 6,300
6 Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co. Omaha 4,708 5,400
7 Hy-Vee Food Stores Omaha 4,473 4,843
8 First National of Nebraska Inc Omaha 5,354 4,651
9 Nebraska Methodist Health System Omaha N/A 4,446
10 Burlington Northern Omaha 4,400 4,400
11 Bryan LGH Medical Center Lincoln 4,200 4,200
12 ConAgra Inc. Omaha 2,720 4,000
13 Cabela's Inc. Sidney 3,631 3,887
14 Cargill Inc. Blair N/A 3,504
15 Swift & Co Omaha & Grand Island N/A 3,168
16 Crete Carrier Corp. Lincoln 4,021 3,040
17 Oriental Trading Co.  Omaha 3,250 3,000
18 West Corp. Omaha 2,614* 2,800
19 Baker's Supermarkets (Kroger Co.) Omaha 1,900 2,535
20 Creighton University Omaha 2,550 2,500
21 Pamida/Shopko Omaha 2,209 2,463
22 St. Elizabeth Regional Med. Center Lincoln 2,150 2,393
23 Nebraska Furniture Mart Omaha 1,533 2,166
24 Becton Dickinson Columbus 2,080 2,100
25 B & R Stores Inc. Lincoln 1,814 2,011
26 Smithfield Foods Inc (formerly Farmland Foods Inc) Crete 1,586* 1,857
27 Qwest Communications Omaha N/A 1,850
28 Target Stores Omaha 2,150 1,781
29 Good Samaritan Hospital Kearney 1,734 1,700
30 Father Flanagan's Boys & Girls Town Omaha 1,590 1,700
31 UPS Omaha 2,076* 1,687
32 Werner Enterprises Inc. Omaha 1,416 1,622
33 Omaha Steaks Inc. Omaha 1,500 1,600
34 Chief Industries Inc. Grand Island 1,450 1,600
35 Valmont Industries Inc. Omaha 1,400 1,500
36 Ameritrade Holding Corp. Omaha 1,200 1,500
37 Children's Hospital Omaha 1,432 1,428
38 Buckle Inc. Kearney 751 1,404
39 St. Joseph Hospital (Creighton Med Center) Omaha N/A 1,350
40 Hormel Foods Corp Fremont N/A 1,341
41 Wells Fargo Bank Omaha 1,070 1,320
42 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Lincoln 2,165* 1,300
43 Omaha World Herald Omaha 926 1,300
44 Commercial Federal Corporation Omaha 1,300 1,266
45 Marriott Regional Center Omaha 1,284* 1,220
46 Bag N Save Omaha N/A 1,200
47 Info USA Inc. Omaha 1,003* 1,200
48 Runza National Lincoln 1,380 1,200
49 CSG Inc. Omaha 1,250 1,200
50 Regional West Medical Center Scottsbluff 1,276 1,155
51 St. Francis Medical Center Grand Island 1,100 1,140
52 Cox Communications Omaha N/A 1,100
53 Lozier Corp. Omaha 1,286 1,100
54 Ameritas Acacia Mutual Holding Lincoln 1,152 1,100
55 Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital Lincoln 1,100 1,100
56 JC Penney Co. Omaha 1,074 1,100
57 Gallup Organization Inc. Lincoln 950 1,100
58 Vishay Dale Electronics Inc. Columbus 733 1,100
59 Kawasaki Motors Mfg. Corp. USA Lincoln 1,050 1,060
60 Physicians Mutual Ins. Co Omaha 993 1,029
61 Faith Regional Health Services Norfolk 1,003 1,020
62 Nebco Inc, Constructors Inc Lincoln N/A 1,000
63 Duncan Aviation Lincoln 1,200 1,000
64 Alltel Lincoln 1,157 960
65 Lincoln Benefit Life Lincoln N/A 950
66 Blue Cross Blue Shield Omaha 981 946
67 Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital Hastings 880 940
68 Connectivity Solutions Mfg, Inc. Omaha N/A 900
69 Gordman's Inc Omaha 900 900
70 Pfizer Inc. Lincoln 800 900
71 Hewlett-Packard Omaha N/A 850
72 Nucor Corp Norfolk N/A 850
73 Eaton Corp Hastings N/A 844
74 Jefferson Pilot Financial Omaha 754 818
75 Sitel Corp. Omaha 940 800
76 Baldwin Filters Inc. Kearney 850 800
77 Fremont Area Medical Center Fremont 850 800
78 MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co Omaha N/A 770
79 Sara Lee Corp Bellevue N/A 770
80 Great Plains Regional Medical North Platte 781 765
81 Behlen Manufacturing Columbus 754 750
82 Union Bank Lincoln 743 750
83 Tabitha Nursing Home Lincoln 745 731
84 Greater Omaha Packing Co. Omaha N/A 725
85 Peter Kiewit & Sons Inc. Omaha N/A 713
86 Kellogg Co. Omaha 688 700
87 American Meter Co. Neb. City 668 700
88 Nebraska Book Co. Inc. Lincoln 750 690
89 Molex Inc Lincoln N/A 655
90 HDR Inc. Omaha 634 652
91 Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Omaha N/A 650
92 Growth Management Corp. Lincoln 800 630
93 Woodmen of the World Insurance Omaha N/A 606
94 Airlite Plastics Co. Omaha 575 601
95 Transactions Systems Architects Omaha N/A 600
96 CNH Grand Island 515 600
97 Travel & Transport Inc. Omaha 372 600
98 Square D/Schneider Electric Lincoln N/A 501
99 Convergy's Corp. Omaha N/A 500
100 Irwin Industrial Tools (Visegrip) DeWitt N/A 500
101 MDS Pharma Services Lincoln N/A 500
102 Lindsay Manufacturing Lindsay 500 480
103 Camaco Columbus Mnfg. Columbus 500 450
104 Data Transmission Network Corp. Omaha 491 400
105 Lester Electrical of Nebraska Lincoln 440 400
PUBLIC EMPLOYERS Number of Employees
  Agency / Institution Nebraska Location 2003 2005
1 State of Nebraska Lincoln 18,653 18,653
2 US Government Lincoln 16,297 15,403
3 University of NE-Lincoln Lincoln 5,534 4,915
4 University of NE Medical Center Omaha 3,800* 3,411
5 Omaha Public Power District Omaha 2,419 2,354
6 NE Public Power District Columbus 2,270 2,153
7 University of NE-Omaha Omaha 2,850 1,328
8 US Veterans Hospital Omaha 1,661 1,199
9 University of NE-Kearney Kearney 1,503 893
10 Metropolitan Utilities District Omaha 814 806
11 Omaha Public Schools Omaha 8,073* --
12 US Air Force/Offutt Omaha 11,137 --
13 U.S. Post Office Omaha 5,905 --
14 Lincoln Public Schools Lincoln 5,900 --
15 NE Dept. of Health & Human Svc. Lincoln 5,809 --
16 Nebraska Health Systems Omaha 4,500 --
17 City of Omaha Omaha 2,800 --
18 City of Lincoln Lincoln 2,746 --
19 Millard Public Schools Omaha 2,498 --
20 Douglas County Omaha 2,404 --
21 Correctional Services Lincoln 2,083 --
22 Central Community College Grand Island 1,672 --
23 Lancaster County Lincoln 1,255 --
24 Air & Army National Guard Lincoln 923 --
25 US Navy & Marine Corps Omaha 507 --
Sources: 2003 numbers from NDED survey of employers; 2005 numbers from Omaha World-Herald, "Business Profiles," March 27, 2005.
* Denotes 2002 employment number
Last Updated: April 4, 2005
by Nebraska Databook
email: mlundeen@neded.org