TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation has been named one of Forbes 2025 America’s Best Large Employers. This marks the third time Cherokee Nation has been recognized by Forbes and the first time it’s been recognized in the large employer category.
“I deeply appreciate the hard work and commitment from our Cherokee Nation workforce, which reflects through this recognition by Forbes,” said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. “We’ve experienced unprecedented growth and an increase in services offered to Cherokee citizens in recent years. None of this would be possible without a dedicated workforce united under the idea that we’re all in this together.”
The awards list can be viewed online at Forbes America’s Best Large Employers List.
Across the country, America’s Best Large Employers 2025 were identified by an independent survey from companies that employ over 1,000 workers. The survey gathered 210,000 employees across the U.S. to rate employers on criteria like opportunities for advancement and employee compensation.
According to Forbes, the responses were analyzed along with additional survey data over the last three years to give a robust assessment of ranked organizations.
“We have long known that Cherokee Nation is among the most successful government services entities and this is true thanks to the efforts of our work family,” Deputy Chief Bryan Warner said.
In 2021, Chief Hoskin signed an executive order creating a compensation implementation group and putting the Cherokee Nation on a path to a $15 minimum wage, nearly twice the level of the state of Oklahoma’s minimum wage. The executive order also called for a comprehensive wage study of government employees, which ultimately invested $10.6 million to increase salaries for more than 80% of government and health care employees.
Among other recent initiatives offered by the tribe, employees are encouraged to take two paid hours of mental wellness leave per month and are entitled to paid family leave for births, adoption, or foster placement of a child in the home. The tribe also introduced Flexible Spending Accounts seeded with $2,000 per child to all eligible tribal government employees.
Cherokee Nation was also recognized twice by Forbes in recent years as among Oklahoma’s best employers.
The Cherokee Nation’s government arm employs nearly 5,800.