Benefit plans can be quite an important consideration for employees when selecting a company or an industry to perform as their healthcare planning can be based entirely on it. So what industries offer the best employee benefits?

Industries with the best employee benefits plans overall

We used data from approximately 4,600 group clients of Benefits by Design (BBD) to find out which industries offered their employees the most robust group insurance coverage. See below for our methodology on how we rated these benefits. 

According to BBD’s numbers, the following is a list of industries in order with the best employee benefits (out of 5 stars):

  • Finance and insurance – 3.82
  • Educational services – 3.81
  • Construction – 3.80
  • Professional, scientific and technical services/information technology (IT) – 3.79
  • Retail trade – 3.78
  • Health care and social assistance – 3.77
  • Manufacturing – 3.71
  • Accommodation and food services – 3.66
  • Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services – 3.38

The best 3 industries shown in our BBD’s study are finance and insurance, educational services and construction. This is reflecting their roles in the current market with the industry either understanding the importance of a robust healthcare plan, having a major dependency on a good healthcare plan, or a career that has a lot of health-related liability.

Industry standouts by specific benefit line

When it comes to the best employee benefits, some employees may be looking for specific coverage. So, BBD also provides data to determine which industries were leading the charge when it comes to each type of benefit. 

  • Educational services had the most short-term disability (STD) coverage with 12% of groups providing this benefit;
  • Finance and Insurance employees have the most coverage for long-term disability (LTD – 61%), employee assistance programs (EAPs – 19%) as well as health care spending accounts (HCSAs – 25%);
  • 62% of groups in the construction industry provide their employees with dependent life insurance coverage, whereas most other industries range between 49% – 58%;
  • Accommodation and food services have the highest percentage of groups that offer extended health (98%) and dental care (97%), however, the lower percentages of other benefits lines put them lower on the list for overall employee benefits plans; 
  • When it comes to critical illness (CI), the education industry has the most coverage at 49%, whereas most groups are in the 25% – 35% range.

Manufacturing takes the cake for Diagnostic Specialist Access Insurance (DSAI) with 6% coverage. While that may not seem like a lot, most industries only have 0%-2% coverage.