The Best 50 Places to Work in America

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While Facebook took a beating from investors this year, its employees hold the company in much higher regard, new research shows.

For the second time in three years, the social media giant has been named the best place to work by the online jobs and career community Glassdoor. Facebook earned the highest rating in the 2011 Employees’ Choice Awards and was among the top three last year.

"We strive to make Facebook a place where everyone is able to have an impact doing what they love," said Lori Goler, Facebook's vice president of people and recruiting. "Receiving this award is a testament to the culture of builders we’ve worked hard to create."

The rankings are based solely on the input of employees who elect to provide feedback on their job, work environment and company via Glassdoor's anonymous online company review survey. The survey asks employees to rate their satisfaction with the company overall and key workplace factors, such as career opportunities, compensation and benefits, work/life balance, senior management, culture and values.

A number of the Facebook employees whose reviews were considered praised the company's culture.

“Everyone there has an opportunity to make an impact," one Facebook sales director wrote.  "(The) company moves very fast and prides itself on running lean. This means autonomy and opportunity for almost every employee.”

The other companies ranked in the top five this year are McKinsey & Company, Riverbed Technology, Bain & Company, and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Robert Hohman, Glassdoor CEO and co-founder, said the rankings are an authentic and tangible reflection of employee satisfaction.

"Due to greater workplace transparency, information about what it’s like to work at particular companies is becoming increasingly influential as job seekers and employees consider their next career move," Hohman said.

Other companies included in this year's Top 50 are:

• Google
• Edelman
• National Instruments
• In-N-Out Burger
• The Boston Consulting Group
• CareerBuiler.com
• Southwest
• Chevron
• LinkedIn
• Rackspace
• Gartner
• Akami
• Shell
• Workday
• Cummins
• REI
• SalesForce
• Citrix
• Trader Joes
• Slalom Consulting
• Orbitz
• Mitre
• JetBlue
• MasterCard
• Agilent Technologies
• Intel
• Hyatt
• Red Hat
• Apple
• General Mills
• MathWorks
• Fluor
• Qualcomm
• Digitas
• Biogen Idec
• Northwestern Mutual
• SAP
• IKEA
• Dow
• Boeing
• Costco Wholesale
• Intermountain Healthcare
• Turner
• Eaton
• Starbucks

While Facebook made the list the past three years, 10 companies have been recognized as a Best Place to Work since the awards debuted in 2009, including Apple, Bain & Company, CareerBuilder, Chevron, General Mills, Google, McKinsey & Company, MITRE, National Instruments and Qualcomm.

Nearly 500,000 company reviews from the past year were reviewed to help determine the rankings.

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow Chad Brooks on Twitter @cbrooks76 or BusinessNewsDaily @BNDarticles. We're also on Facebook & Google+.