Meet America’s Best Employers For Veterans 2025

By the time Lindsey Streeter had spent more than three decades in the Army and retired as a Command Sergeant Major, the military branch’s values had become a core part of him. So when a friend called to suggest Streeter apply for a job at Bank of America, he had to consider how the values he’d gained through the Army lined up with the values of Bank of America.

Streeter quickly learned that Bank of America’s focus on working together and trusting each other fit well with the Army’s focus on teamwork. “I knew, without a doubt, we had a baseline starting point there, and I could figure out the rest of the company once my foot was in the door,” Streeter says.

Today, Streeter is senior vice president of global military affairs at Bank of America—the organization that earned the No. 9 spot on our sixth-annual ranking of America’s Best Employers For Veterans.

The list, created in partnership with market research firm Statista, is based on survey responses from more than 17,000 veterans (those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, the Reserves or the National Guard) working for companies with more than 1,000 employees in the United States. Participants were asked how likely they would be to recommend their company to friends and family, and to rate their employer based on criteria ranging from health benefits, career development opportunities and programs tailored to veterans. Survey respondents were also asked to evaluate previous employers (within the past two years) and other companies they knew within their respective industries and through friends or family who worked there. The data was then put into a scoring system, and the companies with the highest scores made our final ranking. (For more on the methodology, see below.)

Of the 150 top employers on our list, 93 also appeared on last year’s list, with Salesforce ranking No. 1 for the second year in a row. In addition, 27 companies have ranked on the list every year since its inception in 2020, including Nike (No. 67), Samsung Electronics (No. 96), and Ford Motor (No. 145).

The employers on our latest list recognize that it’s often difficult for veterans to transition from military life to civilian employment. One common challenge, according to the non-profit group Combat Veterans to Careers: Veterans may have acquired the skills and knowledge to do a job but may not have attained the requisite state certifications or licenses while in the military. It’s also not always easy for veterans to explain how their military training in, say, leading troops or working under stressful conditions, translates to corporate jobs. In response to such challenges, many of our top employers have created dedicated hiring programs for military veterans or have partnered with organizations that specifically support vets and their families.

Booz Allen Hamilton (No. 21) is one such company. It participates in the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program, part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, in which candidates undergo 12 weeks of training at the company alongside weekly educational sessions. The program has created a robust pipeline for Booz Allen—the company hires 90% of its fellowship candidates, says Tom Downs, director of talent programs and operations at Booz Allen and an Army retiree. In addition, the company participates in dozens of military- and veteran-focused job fairs, such as the Service Academy Career Conference and the Military Spouse Employment Partnership.

Embedding veterans into the workforce goes beyond simply hiring them. At Booz Allen, veterans and military spouses can participate in a program called the Transition Center of Excellence, in which they’re paired with a “buddy” for a year. The new hire can choose if they want a fellow veteran or non-veteran as their buddy. After that year, employees can join the Armed Services Community or Military Spouse Community employee resource groups, where they can stay connected to fellow veterans.

As a defense and government contractor, Booz Allen is “a natural home for veterans and military spouses,” says Downs. In fact, 30% of Booz Allen’s workforce is military-affiliated, a cohort that includes veterans, members of the national guard and reservists. Veterans, Downs says, understand the military’s unique needs, which in turn helps the tech firm serve its customers.

Military skills are highly transferable to companies in defense, aerospace, and transportation, making employers in these industries among the most veteran-heavy. Indeed, our list of America’s Best Employers For Veterans 2025 includes seven companies in the aerospace and defense industry, with two of those employers—Lockheed Martin (No. 6) and Northrop Grumman (No. 10)—placing in the top 10.

Also well-represented on our list of employers: companies in healthcare and social services, banking and financial services, and IT software and services—which includes Google, the No. 2 company on our list.

Karen Dahut, CEO of Google Public Sector, executive sponsor of Google Veterans Network, and a Navy veteran herself, says veterans “possess an innate sense of duty and accountability, mission focus and unmatched leadership,” along with “experience solving complex, real-world challenges under pressure”—qualities that she says translate directly into innovative problem-solving at Google.

Like Booz Allen, Google runs a 12-week program in partnership with Hiring Our Heroes. The tech giant also offers three weeks of virtual training in generative AI through a program called Launchpad for Veterans. In the program’s inaugural year in 2024, Google trained 4,000 veterans to transition into tech roles.

The company also supports veterans through its employee resource group, Google Veterans Network, or VetNet, as it’s known at the company. VetNet maintains a veteran-focused career website, provides free services like resume-building and mentorship programs, and hosts an annual Google Veterans Career Week, which offers career advice and networking.

Of course, such programs and services don’t just benefit veterans—they pay dividends to the companies, as well. By supporting military veterans throughout their careers, these employers garner intense loyalty and word of mouth. Case in point: More than 20,000 veterans and individuals with military backgrounds have joined Bank of America since 2015, and the bank intends to hire another 10,000 over the next five years.

Google’s Dahut views supporting veterans as a win-win, and notes it can even give companies a competitive edge. To that end, Google provides its veteran workforce with ongoing development and offerings, such as full pay and benefits during reservist employees’ first 30 days of active duty, along with location exceptions for Google employees whose spouses receive military orders. As Dahut sees it: “A veteran's transition to civilian life doesn't end on day one of employment—it marks the beginning of their next mission.”

For the full list of America’s Best Employers For Veterans, click here.

Methodology

To compile the sixth-annual ranking of America’s Best Employers For Veterans, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey more than 17,000 veterans (those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, the Reserves or the National Guard) working for companies with more than 1,000 employees in the United States. Respondents were asked how likely they would be to recommend their current employer, their previous employer (within the past two years), and companies they knew within their industry orthrough friends or family who worked there. Current employees were also asked to evaluate their employers based on criteria ranging from work atmosphere and salary to health benefits, career development opportunities and programs tailored to veterans.

The surveys were collected and combined with data from the past three years of Forbes-Statista surveys, with a heavier weight placed on the more recent data and on the responses from current employees. After all data points were analyzed and put into a scoring system, the 150 companies with the highest scores made our list of America’s Best Employers For Veterans 2025.

As with all Forbes lists, companies pay no fee to participate or be selected. To read more about how we make these lists, click here. For questions about this list, please email listdesk [at] forbes.com.