ISSAQUAH, WA — Two companies based in the Seattle area made Forbes' list of the top 500 best employers in the U.S. Issaquah-based Costco took the No. 1 spot, beating out favorites like Google and Wegman's. REI, based in Kent, made its first appearance on the list, and came in No. 3.

Costco, Google and REI rank at the top on Forbes' list of 500 best large employers. To compile the rankings, Forbes split employers into two groups, mid-sized — companies with 1,000 to 5,000 employees — and large employers — companies with 5,000 or more employees.

According to Forbes, America's best large employers are:

Costco Wholesale, based in Issaquah, Washington Google, based in Mountain View, California REI, based in Kent, Washington Memorial Hermann Health System, based in Houston, Texas United Service Automobile Association, based in San Antonio Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, based in Houston, Texas Penn Medicine, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minnesota City of Austin, Austin, Texas Wegmans Food Markets, based in Rochester, New York

>>>See the full list here.

According to Forbes, America's best mid-sized employers are:

LUSH Rackspace Hosting, based in San Antonio, Texas New Seasons Market, based in Portland, Oregon Celgene, based in Summit, New Jersey National Credit Union Administration, based in Alexandria, Virginia Slalom Consulting, based in Stamford, Connecticut Gartner, based in Seattle, Washington Georgetown University, based in Washington, D.C. CDM Smith, based in Boston JM Family Enterprises, based in Deerfield Beach, Florida

>>>See the full list here.

Image via Creative Commons

Patch.com reporter Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report