15. Cisco Systems
Average total pay: $131,703
For: Software Engineer IV*Best Companies rank: 6
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Employees of Cisco stay at Cisco: Less than 5% choose to leave each year. Maybe that's because the good pay is enhanced by benefits designed to keep staffers fit and healthy. Its offices in California, North Carolina and Massachusetts feature onsite gyms, and more than 20,700 employees have signed up. Like to salsa? The fitness centers offer 660 classes a quarter -- including yoga, Pilates, tai chi, indoor cycling, Latin aerobics and dance.
Meanwhile, Cisco cafes feature healthy menus, serving antibiotic-free chickens, eggs from non-caged animals, organic fruits and vegetables, and a "Farm to Fork" restaurant where the food is sourced within a 150-mile radius. The Market Café at San Jose headquarters even opens for dinner from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. -- eat there or take it home.
NEXT: eBay
Last updated February 05 2009: 1:03 PM ET
RSS*Most common salaried job
An earlier version listed an incorrect pay number for Chesapeake Energy. The correct amount is $120,576, not $178,108, which moves Chesapeake from #7 among top payers to #24. The rankings have been adjusted accordingly.
An earlier version listed an incorrect pay number for Chesapeake Energy. The correct amount is $120,576, not $178,108, which moves Chesapeake from #7 among top payers to #24. The rankings have been adjusted accordingly.
