For a lot of people, working for a small company is better than working for a large one. The best small companies offer a faster pace, more access to the top brass, and great opportunities for growth. But finding the right small company is key.
Sojob-hunting and employee-review site Comparably analyzed its database of over 3 million employee ratings on 30,000 US companies to come up with this list of the top small companies, based on overall employee satisfaction rating. Small companies were defined as firms with less than 500 employees.
For its reviews, Comparably conducts detailed questionnaires, asking about everything from compensation information to areas like "Are your company's meetings effective?" and "Do you have a mentor at work?"
To make the list, each company needed at least 10 employee reviews with at least 100 ratings (feedback on specific questions). Companies with employees who answered more questions were weighted more heavily than those with staffers that provided fewer answers. Comparably also limited the data to reviews written in 2017.
Tech companies, known for their high pay and perks, dominated the list.
No. 50: Entelo
Satisfaction rating: 3.81 out of 5
Company: Entelo
Headquarters: San Francisco
What it does:
No. 49: Baker
Satisfaction rating: 3.83 out of 5
Company: Baker
Headquarters: Denver
What it does: Baker makes customer management and marketing software for the marijuana dispensary industry.
No. 48: Acorns
Satisfaction rating: 3.85 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does: Acorns is a finance company that specializes in "micro investing." It rounds up every purchase that you make to the nearest dollar, then invests that change in stocks and bonds of your choosing.
No. 47: Chrome River Technologies
Satisfaction rating: 3.87 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 46: Unitrends
Satisfaction rating: 3.9 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 45: RevLocal
Satisfaction rating: 3.91 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 44: CreativeLive
Satisfaction rating:3.92 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 43: Revolution Prep
Satisfaction rating: 3.94 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 42: Widen Enterprises
Satisfaction rating: 3.95 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 41: DroneDeploy
Satisfaction rating: 3.97 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does: Drone Deploy offers software to capture images, map flights and analyze data captured by drone cameras.
No. 40: Events.com
Satisfaction rating: 3.97 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters: San Diego
What it does:
No. 39: Asana
Satisfaction rating: 3.98 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:San Francisco
What it does:
No. 38: Cotopaxi
Satisfaction rating: 4.01 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:Salt Lake City
What it does:
No. 37: Wave Financial Inc.
Satisfaction rating: 4.01 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 36: PC Pitstop
Satisfaction rating: 4.03 out of 5
Company:PC Pitstop
Headquarters:
What it does: PC Pitstop offers PC security software and software to detect performance performance problems.
No. 35: OmegaFi
Satisfaction rating: 4.07 out of 5
Company: OmegaFi
Headquarters:Columbus, Georgia
What it does:
No. 34: Mobomo
Satisfaction rating: 4.08 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 33: Harp Interactive
Satisfaction rating: 4.08 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does: Harp Interactive is a digital marketing and advertising agency that helps companies with social media and search engine advertising.
No. 32: Swift Navigation
Satisfaction rating: 4.1 out of 5
Company: Swift Navigation
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 31: BizMerlin
Satisfaction rating: 4.11 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 30: Zeel
Satisfaction rating: 4.13 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters: New York
What it does:
No. 29: Simplus
Satisfaction rating: 4.15 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 28: Kollective Technology
Satisfaction rating: 4.15 out of 5
Company:Kollective Technology
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 27: Lullabot
Satisfaction rating: 4.15 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters: Providence, Rhode Island
What it does:
No. 26: RealSelf
Satisfaction rating: 4.15 out of 5
Company: RealSelf
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 25: Jammber
Satisfaction rating: 4.16 out of 5
Company: Jammber
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 24: Designing Digitally
Satisfaction rating: 4.18 out of 5
Company:Designing Digitally
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 23: BoldLeads
Satisfaction rating: 4.19 out of 5
Company:BoldLeads
Headquarters:Chandler, Arizona
What it does:
No. 22: ParqEx
Satisfaction rating: 4.19 out of 5
Company:ParqEx
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 21: Demandbase
Satisfaction rating: 4.21 out of 5
Company:Demandbase
Headquarters:San Francisco
What it does:
No. 20: Ytel
Satisfaction rating: 4.21 out of 5
Company: Ytel
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 19: Lingotek
Satisfaction rating: 4.24 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 18: Striim
Satisfaction rating: 4.26 out of 5
Company:Striim
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 17: Enthusem
Satisfaction rating: 4.3 out of 5
Company: Enthusem
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 16: BambooHR
Satisfaction rating: 4.3 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 15: Cybereason
Satisfaction rating: 4.33 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 14: Chatterkick
Satisfaction rating: 4.34 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 13: CivicActions
Satisfaction rating: 4.35 out of 5
Company: CivicActions
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 12: Branch Metrics
Satisfaction rating: 4.36 out of 5
Company: Branch Metrics
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 11: Impact Branding & Design
Satisfaction rating: 4.38 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 10: Code.org
Satisfaction rating: 4.38 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 9: Envoy
Satisfaction rating: 4.39 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:San Francisco
What it does:
No. 8: SendGrid
Satisfaction rating: 4.41 out of 5
Company: SendGrid
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 7: Help Scout
Satisfaction rating: 4.42 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 6: Fueled
Satisfaction rating: 4.45 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 5: SiteTraker
Satisfaction rating: 4.46 out of 5
Company:SiteTraker
Headquarters:, California
What it does:
No. 4: Realvolve
Satisfaction rating: 4.49 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 3: TripActions
Satisfaction rating: 4.5 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:, California
What it does:
No. 2: Pipedrive
Satisfaction rating: 4.5 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:
What it does:
No. 1: Persicope Data
Satisfaction rating: 4.52 out of 5
Company:
Headquarters:San Francisco
What it does: